21. Meissen porcelain statuette from the series of commedia dell'arte figures for the Duke of Weissenfels, depicting Harlequin the Elder, circa 1745 A Meissen figure of Harlequin "Ancien" from the Duke of Weissenfels series, circa 1745 Modelled by P. Reinicke, wearing a gilt-edged hat, gilt-edged white jacket with green bows and a slapstick to the left side, and stockings with red, blue and yellow chevron pattern and black shoes, 13.6cm high, traces of crossed swords mark in blue (some restoration) After the engraving "Habit d'Arlequin Ancien" by François Joullain (1697-1778) illustrated in Luigi Riccoboni's Histoire du théâtre Italien, 1728, and mentioned in Reinicke's work notes for September 1744: "Einen dergl., Harlequin de Ansin, in Thon boussirt" [one similar, Harlequin Ancien, repaired in clay]. See Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, 2001, p. 109, where the author notes that Joullain's engraving may be derived from an engraving attributed to Tristano Martinelli, published in Lyon in 1601 (ill. p. 111, fig. 170).