Menzel, Adolph von Breslau 1815 - Berlin 1915 15 x 18 cm „Zwei lachende Mägde mit Geschirr und Hausrat; im Hintergrund schimpfend der Dorfrichter Adam“. Pen in black, grey wash/cardboard, signed upper left. Preparatory drawing to the series of 30 illustrations for Heinrich von Kleists edition of Der zerbrochene Krug. Mit 30 Illustrationen und 4 Photographien nach Original-Compositionen von Adolph Menzel, Berlin, A. Hofmann & Co., 1877. Southern German private collection. Menzel normally drew directly on the woodblock, so that his drawing was lost when cutting. But for nine of the illustrations for the comedy Der zerbrochene Krug, he tried out a new method: transferring a pen and ink drawing on white paper to the woodblock by means of photography. The results were disappointing, however, so he returned to the well-tried method. This is documented by a report he wrote himself on the creation of this series of illustrations, which also lists the individual sheets in question, including the headpiece for the Second Act. So far, two of these nine pen and ink drawings have been documented; this one is now the third. We are grateful to Dr. Claude Keisch, Berlin, for helpful information and for confirming the drawing's authenticity on the basis of photographs.