A Chelsea group of Harlequin and Columbine dancing, circa 1755


Modelled in the round and arm in arm, Harlequin wearing a comedic mask, broad-brimmed hat, black breeches and pale turquoise tunic, Columbine with pink bodice and yellow skirt, a corsage at her breast, the scroll-moulded base picked out in gold and applied with flowers and leaves, 8.1cm high, red anchor mark
|This group is copied from the Meissen model of Harlequin and Columbine Dancing, modelled by J J Kändler in 1743. A Meissen example was probably one of those lent by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams to Sir Everard Fawkener for Chelsea to make copies. Variously known as the 'Dutch Dancers', 'Tyrolean Dancers' and 'Polish Dancers', it was copied in Chinese Export porcelain, at Chelsea and at Bow. Meissen, Chelsea and Chinese versions are illustrated by Rosalie Wise Sharp, Ceramics, Ethics and Scandal (2002), pp.150-152, and another, slightly later, Bow example by Peter Bradshaw, Bow Porcelain Figures (1992), p.143.