Meissen figure of Scaramouche

Code: X399

From the Weissenfels series 

Circa 1746

Hard-paste porcelain

Height: 5 ½ in. (14 cm.)

Marks: crossed swords in underglaze blue

This figure is part of a series of eighteen figures which were ordered by Johann Adolf II, duke of Sachsen-Weissenfels (1685-1746), the first cousin of Augustus the Strong, perhaps to commemorate his wedding to Frederike von Sachsen-Gotha in 1743. They were made by Peter Reinicke, with some supervisory corrections by Johann Joachim Kändler. The eighteen figures are: Harlequin “Ancien,” Harlequin “Moderne,” Scapin, the Captain, Narcissin, Giangurgolo, Beltrame, Tartaglia, Pierrot, Mezzetin, two figures of Scaramouche, dancing Harlequin or Hanswurst, Pantalone, the Dottore, Pulcinella, dancing Harlequine, and Columbine with a mask and castanets. Fourteen of the figures were made by Reinicke, of which at least nine were corrected by Kändler between March and September 1744.