Figure
ca. 1749-50 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Figure in hard-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded of Pantalone from The Italian Comedy. He wears a beard and stands with his right hand on his chest and his left hand thrusting back his gilt-bordered black cloak. He wears a jacket and breeches shaded in purple, a black cap, light red stockings and yellow shoes. Rectangular small flat base.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Hard-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded |
| Brief description | Figure in hard-paste porcelain of Pantalone, Doccia porcelain factory, Doccia, ca. 1749-1750 |
| Physical description | Figure in hard-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded of Pantalone from The Italian Comedy. He wears a beard and stands with his right hand on his chest and his left hand thrusting back his gilt-bordered black cloak. He wears a jacket and breeches shaded in purple, a black cap, light red stockings and yellow shoes. Rectangular small flat base. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Mr W. A. J. Floersheim |
| Subject depicted | |
| Literary reference | Commedia dell'Arte |
| Bibliographic reference | Frescobaldi Malenchini, Livia ed. With Balleri, Rita and Rucellai, Oliva, ‘Amici di Doccia Quaderni, Numero VII, 2013, The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection’, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze, 2014
p. 56, Cat. 29
29. Figure of Pantalone
circa 1749-1750
hard-paste porcelain painted in colours and gold
h 9 cm
no mark
inv. C.180-1931
gift: Mr W.A.J. Floersheim
Like the other Commedia dell’ Arte figures made at Doccia, the iconographical source for this statuette of Pantalone is an engraving; the most similar seems to be the one by Jacques Callot Habit du Pantalon Ancien, made about 1618-1619 and published by François Joullain, in Histoire du Théatre Italien by Luigi Riccoboni (Parigi 1728). This same source was also used by the Viennese porcelain factory and so their version of Pantalone, made between 1744 and 1749 is very similar to that made at Doccia (STURM-BEDNARCZYK, SLADEK 2007, p. 179, cat. 282). Ginori produced two versions of the Pantalone model; the first and, in our opinion, the oldest, corresponds to the figure shown here and has no mask. In the second version, Pantalone has a mask, his mantle is shorter and his pose is slightly different. This figure has, as its main characteristics, a face with carefully modeled features and the costume of Pantalone that consists of a tunic and knee-length pants painted in minute detail so that it creates a speckled effect on the purple; the gaiters over the yellow slippers are painted a reddish colour. It is interesting to note that the square base is very flat, unlike the others which are shaped like a rocky outcrop. This greater similarity with the Viennese models, as well as the sculpting of the figure, the type of painting, and some crawling of the black paint on the mantle suggest a date of around 1749-1750, when the first Commedia figures were being produced at Doccia, according to documents (cat. 33). A figure similar to this one is in the Gianetti Museum in Saronno (L. Brambilla Bruni, in BRAMBILLA BRUNI, MELEGATI, ZENONE PADULA 2000, p. 66, cat. 13) and another is in the Gardiner Museum in Toronto (CHILTON 2001, p. 107, 321, cat. 136), moreover, Meredith Chilton informs me that there is also one in the Pierpoint Morgan collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum (inv. 1917-1367). For further historical information on the figures belonging to the Commedia dell’ Arte series, see cat. 33.
A. d’A.
Bibliography: unpublished |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.180-1931 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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