Meissen figurine group "Scaramouche and Columbine"

In the "Italian Comedy" stands Scaramouche, dressed in a black suit with a white collar, his hair covered by a black cap; he stands on an irregular pedestal decorated with plastic floral vines and leaves. Next to him is a young Columbina, embracing him, in a lilac skirt with a yellow apron and a corset with Indian flowers, holding a birdcage under her left arm. The polychrome painting features several gold accents. This may be the work of Johann Joachim Kändler, 1741. Height: 18 cm. The motif is an adaptation of the painting "The Cage" by Nicolas Lancret (in the Louvre), embodied in two figures of the Commedia dell'arte in Kändler's work. Several examples of this group are held by leading museums around the world, including the State Art Collections in Dresden, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. See Pietzsch, Meissen Porcelain Sculpture, No. 96; Kunze-Kellensperger, Burda Collection, No. 105; Menzhausen/Karpinski, p. 138. Porcelain group depicting Scaramouche and Columbina from the Commedia dell'arte. Restored. Meissen. Circa 1750.