Six Meissen porcelain Commedia dell'Arte figures from the Duke of Weissenfels series, circa 1745

Pantalone:

Harry Beyer Collection, Ketterer Kunst, Munich, 15 May 2013, lot 162, where acquired.

Scapin: 

Anonymous sale, Christie’s, London, 31 May 2012, lot 645, where acquired.

Narcissin de Malalbergo: 

Anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, 19 May 2004, lot 33;

The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection, Christie’s, London, 4 June 2013, lot 40, where acquired.

Scaramouche:

With Robert Williams, London;

Dr. Dewhirst Collection, Sussex, acquired from the above;

Anonymous sale, Bonhams, London, 14 May 2008, lot 74, where acquired.

Harlequin 'Ancien':

Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 5 July 1974, lot 253; 

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 21 October 1975, lot 181; 

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 2 December 2003, lot 40;

The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection, Christie’s, London, 4 June 2013, lot 39, where acquired.

Narcissin de Malalbergo: Birte Abraham, Commedia dell'Arte, The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection of European Porcelain and Faience, Amsterdam, 2010, pp. 66-67.

Harlequin 'Ancien': ibid, pp. 56-57.

These figures belong to a series of table ornaments commissioned from the Meissen manufactory by Johann Adolph II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (1685–1746), first cousin of Augustus the Strong. The duke is believed to have ordered the set to mark his marriage to Frederike von Sachsen-Gotha in 1743. Representing characters from the Commedia dell’Arte, this ambitious series is traditionally thought to comprise eighteen figures, modelled by Peter Reinicke and overseen by Johann Joachim Kändler, who reworked some of the models. Most of the figures draw on engravings by François Joullain, some of which were after designs by Watteau, Bérain, Gillot, Callot, and Coypel, published in Luigi Riccoboni’s Histoire du théâtre italien (Paris, 1728). Reinicke’s work notes for 1744 mention fourteen of the figures from the series, including Tartaglia, Pantalone, Scapin, Narcissin de Malalbergo, Scaramouche and Harlequin 'Ancien’.

For further discussion of the series see the essay by Meredith Chilton, ‘The Duke of Weissenfels Series’, in Reinhard Jansen (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte: Carnival of Comedy Players, Stuttgart, 2001, pp. 16-20; see also Reinhard Jansen (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte Fest der Komödianten, Stuttgart, 2001, pp. 52-57 for the models; cat. no. 33 (Tartaglia), no. 42 (Pantalone), no. 40 (Scapin), no. 32 (Narcissin de Malalbergo), no. 41 (Scaramouche) and no. 30 (Harlequin 'Ancien'). For the engraved sources, see H. E. Backer, 'Komödienfiguren in der Sammlung Dr. Ernst Schneider’, Düsseldorf', Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz, 1960.

For the figures of Pantalone, Harlequin, Narcissin de Malalbergo, and Scapin, Cranfield University used non-invasive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for this lot to screen the green enamel for chromium, which was not detected, a result consistent with 18th century manufacture. The figures of Scaramouche and Tartaglia could not be tested as not enough green enamel was accessible to provide a clear result.