Footnotes

Literature:
Reber, Horst,Höchster Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Privatbesitz, 1984, p. 33;
Jansen, Reinhard (ed.), Commedia dell'Arte: Fest der Komödianten, 2001, cat. 147;
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

The series of Italian Comedy figures from Höchst share stylistic similarities with those produced at both Meissen and Vienna on account of their modeller Johann Christoph Ludwig von Lücke having worked at both of those factories. The principal inspiration for these figures originated in the gardens of the baroque Palais Schönborn in Vienna, wherein statues depicting commedia dell'arte figures on similar pedestals as those of the present Harlequine were built at the beginning of the 18th century for its owner, Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. Lücke may well have been brought to the Palais Schönborn at the behest of the Elector of Mainz, Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein (r. 1743-1763), who had granted the privilege for founding the Höchst factory in 1746 and was also the nephew of Friedrich Karl von Schönborn.

A comparable figure of Harlequine is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 2017.77, formerly in the collections of Carl Jourdan, Frankfurt; Emma Budge, Hamburg; Otto Blohm, Hamburg; and Eduard Pflueger, New York.