In France, the harlequins were long ago. But not recognized, of course. I read about them (namely French) much earlier than I saw a living harlequin.

But the main thing is the fact that in the 90s of the last century one of the official French breeders tried to "break through" this color.

In the early 70's, a four-week-old bitch from Harlequin from France brought one pilot of international lines to Moscow. (the usual people then did not fly to Paris)
I saw her already half a year on our walking dog field.
He said that he had her secretly, without any veterinary registration, carried aboard the plane under a uniform shirt and tunic. The crew knew, but did not sell.

This bitch he managed to get only because she was "defective". The French breeder, who agreed to give it to the Russian pilot, took the harlequin seriously seriously and hoped, was even sure that he would be able to fix a certain location of the spots.
This b-bitch was very interestingly colored. Almost white body with small spots on the top. The tail is black from the base with a white tip and a perfectly black head clearly separated both from the collar from the almost white trunk.
The whole "marriage" of color consisted in the fact that on the right side of the nose a white stain came down. On the same side on the lower jaw there was also a white strand.

This bitch was knit with the winner of many Benvenutto Moscow exhibitions. He was black with a white shirt.

Much earlier, than in Moscow there was a French harlequin, poodles with such color appeared at "circus".
So my boss on Biofak and a friend in the life of Kirill Truveller in his childhood (50s) had a harlequin poodle - almost white all, a black stain at the base of the tail and symmetrical black glasses with ears.

Here's a story .... with geography and biology ....