Commedia dell'Arte Couture Edition

On the occasion of the 260th anniversary of its foundation, Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg issued a special collector’s edition of Franz Anton Bustelli’s masterpiece Commedia dell’Arte figurines first introduced 1759/60.

For the Couture Edition, each of the figurines have been redressed with new designs by contemporary fashion designers and Haute Couturiers including, Christian Lacroix, Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh and Vivienne Westwood.

Taking this project as a launching point the Collector’s Book examines the Commedia dell’Arte as a whole, its significance and impact on fields as diverse as literature, painting, circus, fashion, all forms of theater, cinema and advertising over the centuries up until the present day.

With over 500 photographs, drawings, historical and contemporary references and multifaceted essays and texts, by a series of authors, the book takes the reader on a caleidoscopic ride through centuries and across disciplines, documenting and contexturalizing the project from a variety of angles.

A brief history of the Commedia dell’Arte, introduction of the main characters, Bustelli’s versions transformed into Porcelain and the designers new interpretations, the cultural significance of the Commedia dell’Arte, Bustelli’s figurines’ peculiar gestures juxtaposed to those in silent movies, pantomime, street gestures by urban tribes, masks from use in performance, art, fashion, religion, masquerades, film, comics and rock’n roll, the unique costumes of the Commedia dell’Arte as popular and reappearing motif in fashion over centuries.

Simultaneously the publication documents the design and production of the Couture Edition pieces in the studios of the designers and Nymphenburgs Master workshops revealing rare insights in process and alchemy of fashion and porcelain production. Each of the sixteen new designs is discussed in context of the respective protagonist, who are portrayed with an intimate photograph in their studios and a comprehensive profile text.

The book demonstrates the increasing relevance of handcraft in the age of mass production - century old techniques are the engine of both fashion and fine porcelaine. The elaborate production process of the figurines at the Nymphenburg’s master workshops is for the first time documented and revealed to the public. It illustrates the familiarities and essential bond between Haute Couture and Fine Porcelain making, the mutual devotion to technique and stupefying craft. Why Haute Couture and the Nymphenburg Manufactory are to be counted amongst a few guardians of a level of human achievement expressed as an untouchable form of beauty that would otherwise be lost within a generation or even less.