Harlequin
ca. 1760–70
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Spanish, Madrid
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
Accession Number
1982.60.283
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Harlequin** * Fabrica de Bueniro, ca. 1760–70* Soft-paste porcelain, Height: 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm) Step into the whimsical world of 18th-century Spanish porcelain with this charming *Harlequin* figurine from the Real Fabrica de Bueniro, Madrid's short-lived but ambitious royal factory founded around 1760 under King Carlos III. Modeled after prestigious European porcelain centers like Meissen and Svres, Buen Retiro specialized in delicate soft-paste porcelain—made from a mixture of white clay and ground glass, fired at lower temperatures to create a creamy, translucent body ideal for int...