Figure of Pantalone (c. 1755): Art, History and Details

Figure of Pantalone (c. 1755) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Mennecy Factory (French); Mennecy- Villeroy Factory (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The commedia dell’arte, a form of Italian improvisational theater, became widely popular in 18th-century Europe. This figure, with his prominent beard and distinguishing black robe, represents the character of elderly Venetian merchant Pantalone. Depicted in paintings and porcelain, the popularity of these figures demonstrated the influence of the theater on the tastes of the wealthy.

Object facts

• Title: Figure of Pantalone
• Date: c. 1755
• Creator attribution: Mennecy Factory (French); Mennecy- Villeroy Factory (French)
• Culture: France, Mennecy, 18th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: soft-paste porcelain with enamel decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 20 x 7 x 9.9 cm (7 7/8 x 2 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1948.54

A detail from the museum

In the commedia dell’arte, Pantalone was known for his greed, lust, and buffoonery that made him the target of jokes.

Collection credit

Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen S. "Mennecy-Villeroy Italian Comedy Figure--Pantalone." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 35 (1948).
• Foote, Helen S. "Soft-Paste Porcelain of France." The Art Quarterly XI (Autumn 1948).
• Chilton, Meredith, and Domenico Pietropaolo. Harlequin Unmasked: The Commedia Dell'arte and Porcelain Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.