Footnotes

Literature:
Reber, Horst, Höchster Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Privatbesitz, 1984, p. 30;
Jansen, Reinhard (ed.), Commedie dell'Arte: Fest der Komödianten, 2001, cat. 151;
Siemen, Wilhelm (ed.), Von den Ursprüngen des europäischen Porzellans bis zum Art Déco, 2010, p. 101, cat. 60

Exhibited:
Höchst, Jahrhunderthalle, Höchster Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Privatbesitz, 9 December 1984 to 9 January 1985;
Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, Commedia dell'Arte: Fest der Komödianten, 14 July to 14 October 2001;
Selb and Hohenberg a.d. Eger, Porzellanikon - Staatliches Museum für Porzellan, Königstraum und Massenware. 300 Jahr europäisches Porzellan, 24 April to 2 November 2010;
Hohenberg an der Eger, Porzellanikon - Staatliches Museum für Porzellan, 2018-2023

Bagolin was one of the many zanni, or stock servant figures, from the commedia dell'arte, although he appears less frequently than other such figures like Scaramouche or Mezzetin. The modeller for this series, Johann Christoph von Lücke, likely copied the name, pose, and accoutrements from the eponymous engraving by Johann Jacob Wolrab (Nürnberg, ca. 1720).

For a more comprehensive discussion of Höchst commedia dell'arte figures, see Horst Reber, "The Höchst Italian Comedy series" in Hugo Morley-Fletcher, Early European Porcelain and Faience as collected by Kiyi and Edward Pflueger, vol. I, 1993, pp. 100-128; and H. Reber, "Die Commedia de;;'are an der Höchster Porzellanmanufaktur," in Reinhard Jansen (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte: Fest der Komödianten, 2001, pp. 138-144.

A comparable example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 1982.60.223, formerly of the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, as well as in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. 2006.866, formerly of the Kiyi and Edward M. Pflueger Collection.