Meissen Figurine group "Scaramuz and Columbine"

From the "Italian Comedy" stands Saramuz, dressed in a black costume with a white ruff, his hair covered by a black cap, standing on an irregular pedestal adorned with plastic flower vines and leaves. Close by is the young Columbine, embracing him, wearing a lavender-colored skirt with a yellow apron and bodice patterned with Indian flowers, holding a birdcage under her left arm. The polychrome painting has few gold accents. Possibly by Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1741. Height: 18 cm. The motif is an adaptation of Nicolas Lancret's painting "La cage" (in the Louvre), embodied by two figures of the Commedia dell'arte in Kaendler's work. Few examples of this group are in the possession of significant international museums, including the State Art Collections in Dresden, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. See Pietzsch, Meissen Porcelain Sculpture, No. 96; Kunze-Köllensperger, Burda Collection, No. 105; Menzhausen/Karpinski, p. 138. A porcelain figure group depicting Saramuz and Columbine from the Commedia dell'arte. Restored. Meissen. Circa 1750.