Name: Mezzetino and Lalage
SKU: 20212
Price: 995.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

Mezzetino and Lalage

£995.00

Mezzetino and Lalage : The character Mezzetino is known for his mischievous and flirtatious nature, the monkey he holds in his arms is a symbol of lust, which is spoon fed by Lalage.

The pair of figurines are beautifully hand sculpted from an ivory porcelain, weighty as all early 18th/19th century figures were.

Listed in Nymphenburg Moderne, Minerva edition numbers 68 and 1.

Impressed shield underneath base, impressed number 68/0 and 1/0

Each figure stands around 20 cm tall.

Condition: EXCELLENT condition. Cleaned and checked under UV light.

Provenance – The full set of 16 figures have long been part of a large collection of porcelain from an old family estate here in Gloucestershire, England.

Detailed photographs can be emailed please use the contact us form.

In stock

Description

The young sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli, 1754-63 at Nymphenburg, created the sixteen ladies and gentlemen of the group Commedia dell’arte. (Commedia dell’arte was an early form of professional theatre originating from Italy and popular in Europe during the 16th/17th century). One of the novel aspects of Bustelli’s sixteen figures is that they were conceived as eight pairs. Linking the characters as they were customarily paired on the stage, Bustelli modelled the figures of each couple so that their poses and gestures reflected a specific interaction between them, with each couple communicating through gesture.

These are considered one of the most important works of the German Rococo period and made the Nymphenburg factory world famous.

https://www.nymphenburg.com/de-gb/pages/franz-anton-bustelli