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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Figure

1738-1740 (made)
Artist/Maker
Meissen Porcelain Factory (manufacturer)
Kändler, Johann Joachim (modeller)
Place of origin
Meissen (made)

In the 1740s the Meissen modeller J. J. Kaendler devised a wide range of porcelain figures for table decoration. The most popular were probably characters from the Italian Opera. This was a popular satirical travelling theatre, from which the miniature Punch and Judy developed in the 1800s. The colourful figure of Harlequin could be displayed in many postures and guises.


Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Porcelain
Figures & Decorative Ceramics
SCRAN
Object type
Figure
Materials and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain, painted in enamels and gilded
Hard Paste Porcelain
Painted
Gilded
Brief description
Figure of Scowling Harlequin, hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels and gilded, modelled by J. J. Kändler, made by Meissen porcelain factory, Germany, 1738-1740
Physical description
Figure of Scowling Harlequin, hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels. Harlequin standing against a stump, his right knee beat, holding a dagger in his right hand to his face, scowling and holding a slapstick in his left. He is wearing a grey hat with a yellow rosette and purple feather. He is wearing a white ruff, a tunic decorated with playing cards, blue bands and gilding trim. His shoes plum coloured with yellow rosettes. Base and stump undecorated.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.7cm
  • Elbow to hip width: 10cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs O. J. Finney in memory of Oswald James Finney
Subjects depicted
Commedia Dell'arte
Harlequin
Summary
In the 1740s the Meissen modeller J. J. Kaendler devised a wide range of porcelain figures for table decoration. The most popular were probably characters from the Italian Opera. This was a popular satirical travelling theatre, from which the miniature Punch and Judy developed in the 1800s. The colourful figure of Harlequin could be displayed in many postures and guises.
Bibliographic references
  • Hildyard, Robin. European Ceramics. London : V&A Publications, 1999. 144 p., ill. ISBN 185177260X
  • Hackenbroch, Yvonne. Meissen and other continental porcelain, faience and enamel in the Irwin Untermyer collection. Cambridge, Published for the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Harvard University Press, 1956, Fig. 57, Pl. 36.
  • Jansen, Reinhard, ed. Commedia Dell'Arte, Fest der Komödianten, Keramische Kostbarkeiten aus den Museen der Welt Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, 2001, Cat. 12.
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.13-1984

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Record createdNovember 28, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70989/figure-kändler-johann-joachim/
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