DECEMBER-AUCTION
6/7.12.2023

STORY TELLER

BELLA FIGURA

PROTAGONISTS OF THE COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FOR THE DESSERT TABLE OF THE MÜNCHNER HOF

The famous series of 16 comedy figures was designed around 1760 by F. A. Bustelli for the dessert table of the Munich court. These "comedians are ... are figures from the commedia dell'arte, a form of impromptu theater created in Italy in the 16th century without a fixed text, in which only the plot framework, a love story with obstacles, was predetermined. The same people always appeared, fixed character types in recognizable costumes, whose behaviour the audience could anticipate. This form of theater thrived on the wit and improvisational skills of the actors and owed its particular appeal to the possibility of reacting immediately to current political or social events and alluding to them spontaneously. Having risen from crude popular theater to princely amusement, the commedia dell'arte quickly conquered the courts of Europe." Cf. Hantschmann, Katharina, Italian Comedy, in: Franz Anton Bustelli. Nymphenburg Porcelain Figures of the Rococo. Munich (BNM) 2004, pp. 254 -263.

KOMPLETTE SERIE VON 16 FIGUREN DER COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE

Nymphenburg, nach Modell von F. A. Bustelli

Porzellan. Farb- und Goldstaffage.
Isabella und Octavio, Capitano Spavento und Leda, Julia und Pantalone, Scaramuz und Colombine, Mezzetino und Lalage, Lucinda und Pierrot, Donna Martina und Dottore, Anselmo und Corine.
H. ca. 18 cm bis 21,5 cm

AUKTION 411 // LOT 36
SCHÄTZPREIS € 14.000 –16.000

FORKED UP

For centuries, people ate with their fingers. "God save me from the fork", Martin Luther is said to have said in 1518. So the history of cutlery is not all that old. Well, the custom of eating food with suitable utensils did catch on at some point. Georg Jensen's "Pyramid" cutlery from 1932 and later demonstrates just how artistic such creations were.

VIENNA MELANGE

VIENNESE CLASSICIST PORCELAIN FROM THE BLOCH-BAUER COLLECTION

SEATING CULTURE

NICE TO HAVE