Bidspirit auction | Meissen Harlequin & Columbine Group

Meissen Harlequin & Columbine Group ca. 1743 - Meissen, Germany. Modelled by J.J. Kandler. A porcelain figural group depicting Harlequin and Columbine, ca. 1743, model 404. Columbine in a dress of floral pattern with a white cloak and bodice and with vibrant yellow shoes with red ribbons. Harlequin in a jacket half decorated with yellow, green, red, and black checks and the other half decorated with playing cards on a yellow ground. His pants and shoes are festooned in flowers. Columbine holds a slapstick in one hand and reaches for the mask of Harlequin with the other while he holds aloft a wurst or sausage. Both are seated on a rocky mound with colored foliage. Painter's mark 'K' and with traces of blue crossed swords mark. Provenance: Christie's, London, ”The Nyffeler Collection of German Porcelain, ” June 9, 1986, Lot 35; The Distinguished Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff. A similarly painted model can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY: Object number 64.101.96. Kandler's Harlequin and Columbine represents characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte, a type of improvised comic drama or street theater popular in Europe. The figurines in this series were primarily modelled in the 1730s-1740s by Kandler as well as Peter Reinicke. Kandler's probable attendance at performances appears in his characteristically expressive facial features and the theatrical vitality of the engaging figures. It is these features that made them highly popular both when they were first released through to the present day. Height: 5 3/4 in x width: 7 in x depth: 5 in. Condition: The woman's right shoulder, arm, and the right side of her neck have been repaired. There are additional restorations to the area where the man's left foot meets the bottom of the woman's dress, to the slapstick in the woman's right hand, to the woman's left hand, to the sausage in the man's left hand, to the back of the woman's hat, and to the woman's right shoe. There are some small chips and losses, primarly to the applied foliate elements; some of these losses have been painted over. Along the underside, there is a hairline crack measuring approximately 2 inches, corresponding to a small area of restoration along the front of the base. Another larger hairline that goes from the hem of the man's shirt, downwards through the underside of the base, and back upwards along the back of the base; the area of the hairline along the back of the base has been repaired. Light wear to the gilt and pigment. Some wear to the underside, including small chips.