Meissen porcelain figure of Pantalone

Hard-paste porcelain figure in the round depicting Pantalone standing on a base adorned with flowers in relief, his hands on his hips, with a long grey beard, leaning forward while advancing his right foot, with polychrome and gilt decoration.
Model by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706–1775) and Peter Reinicke
Circa 1744
The subject derives from the Italian Commedia dell’arte, a major theme in Meissen sculpture. This Pantalone belongs to the series of figures known as the Weissenfels series. Commissioned by Duke Johann Adolf II of Saxe-Weissenfels (1685–1745), the extensive Weissenfels series, based on the theme of the Commedia dell’arte, was the “first major series of decorative figures” intended for the decoration of a dessert table.
The engraving “Pantalon ancien” by François Joullain after Jacques Callot served as the model for this figure.