A RARE MEISSEN FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN 1736-40

modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler, seated on rockwork, playing goat bagpipes and drinking from a passglas, with a gilt-metal mount.

Collection of Emma Budge, New York and Hamburg
Sold, Paul Graupe, Berlin, October 4-6, 1937, lot 802, (involuntary sale of her deceased estate)
Sold, Sotheby's, London, March 16, 1976, lot 91
Acquired at the above auction by the present owners

Please Note: the porcelain beneath the mount has not been examined. The goat's left rear leg has been off and restored back and there is some restoration to the left front leg. There is restoration to a chip or several small chips along the edge of the large pipe at the back and a small restored chip to the edge of the pipe at the front; the knopped terminal at the top of the large pipe has a restored chip. Both horns and the goat's left ear are restored; and the bow of the harlequin's right shoe is chipped.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A similar figure in the collection of the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, is illustrated by Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, p. 186, fig. 301 and p. 294, no. 72, where, in addition to listing other similar known examples, the author notes that reference to this model first appears in Kändler's work notes of October 1736, and that the figure is mentioned again in his Taxa for the period 1740-48: "'1 Arlequin, aufin Postament sitzend und einem Dudelsack in Händen habend, nebst einen Bass-Glass trinekend' (1 Harlequin seated upon a pedestal, holding bagpipes in his hands, also a Pass Glass from which he drinks)."