The model is noted in Kändler's work notes for April 1744: '1 zur Italienischen Comödie gehörige Figur, Doctor genannt...welche ebenfalls für den Herzog von Weissenfels bestellet sind' (1 figure belonging to the Italian Comedy, called Doctor...which is also ordered for the Duke of Weissenfels), see Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, the Commedia dell'Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, Singapore, 2001, p.310. It is loosely based upon an engraving by François Joullain, Habit de Docteur Ancien, from L.Riccoboni's 'Histoire du Théâtre Italien', published in Paris in 1728.