Figure 1.--Here we see a portrait of a German boy in a harlequin costume. We habe no information on who the boy is or when and where the portrait was taken. We would guess the early 1900s. Notice what he has in his left hand. I am not sure what it is, but looks to be a noise maker.

We notice various other costumes such as harlequins which might be translated as clowns. The two are different. American clows are strongly influenced by the circus experience. The harlequin evolved from a character commedia delle'arte. They were commonly dressed in colorful costume with multi-colred tights done in a diamond pattern. The harlequin characters often have a wooden (play) spear or magic wand. I think this was normally a costume for a boy. The children's harlequin costumes are generally done differently, with long bloomer like pants. Again these harlequin costumes do not look like play costumes. We do note several examples of children wearing them. Some of the costumes worn by children varied from country to country. These harelequin portraits were also popular in several countries. We note them in several different countries, including America, Britain, Canada, and we think France as well. Most of the harlequin outfits seem to be portraits taken before World War I. They are much less common after the War.

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Created: 4:51 PM 12/2/2005
Last updated: 4:52 PM 12/2/2005