SOLD-  
An exhuberant, large & rare Meissen figural group of Children from the Italian Commedia dell'arte, modeled as three children depicting the characters of Harlequin, Columbine and Beltrame
modeled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775)
circa 1745-50
 
Measuring 25.5cm (10 inches) in height
Marked to the side of the flat base with blurred underglaze blue crossed swords
Condition: remarkably, in perfect original condition
 
This early model with an unglazed flat pad base depicts a group of three lively, scantily clad children, so energetically and fluidly modeled that they appear to leap out of their clay bonds; writhing, twisting and dancing before one's very eyes. The tallest of the group shows the infamous Harlequin, with a ruff around his collar, dancing while holding his slapstick and mask aloft.  The seated female is Columbine, a collared ruff at her throat, her left hand reaching for Beltrame, wearing only his cloak, in a pose reminiscent of Kaendler's famous grouping of The Indiscreet Harlequin circa 1740.
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The three undulating figures are caught in motion atop a wave of rocaille and rockwork, sparingly picked out in gilt-work and scattered with applied leaves and flower-heads. As with the early Meissen groups produced in the first half of the 18th century, the flat base is unglazed with no markings. The Meissen crossed swords mark is painted in slightly blurred underglaze blue on the side of the base, by the swirling rocaille and rockwork.
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An early and very rare group of Kaendler's Child Comedians - in perfect original untouched condition.