CIRCA 1747-49, BLUE SHIELD MARK

Details

A VIENNA COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE GROUP OF HANSWURST AND COMPANION
CIRCA 1747-49, BLUE SHIELD MARK
Modelled seated on a grassy mound, he offering his companion a flower and she caressing his black beard, he wearing a white ruff, iron-red jacket and yellow trousers, a red heart on his yellow shirt and with a turquoise hat on his lap, she wearing a pink dress and yellow apron (restoration to his neck, right arm and both hands, left foot and ankle, her left arm and both hands, hem of dress, hat and flower)
6 in. (15.2 cm.) high

Provenance

With C. Bednarczyk Kunsthandel, Vienna, from whom it was acquired on 14 March 2006.

Literature

Birte Abraham, Commedia dell'Arte, The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection of European Porcelain and Faience, Amsterdam, 2010, pp. 164-165.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Matilda Burn

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Lot Essay

The distinctive topknot, black beard, pointed hat and heart on his chest all point to this figure being Hanswurst rather than Harlequin. Hanswurst was a variant of Harlequin and was particularly popular in Austria. The actor most famed for playing this part was Joseph Anton Stranitzky, who popularised the naive slapstick humour of this character in Vienna at the Kärntnertortheater in the early 18th century, see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, The Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, pp. 45-48. Perhaps because of his heavy black beard this became a trade mark of the character, often this was painted on the actor playing the part as beards were not fashionable at the time.

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