Arlequin, or harlequin is an archaic French term for scraps of food bought as leftovers from restaurants which were arranged into meals and sold to the poor; alternatively, the term can refer to any motley mixture of colors, as might be encountered in a selection of ice creams.
Larousse (1961) attests that the Marché aux Arlequins ("Harlequin's Market") was still in existence in central Paris, near the market of Madeleine, until the 1950s.
Name origins
Larousse (1961) quotes privat d'Anglemont, "arlequin is so called because these dishes are composed of bits and pieces, just like the parti-coloured tights of the citizen of Bergamo" (a reference to the Commedia dell'arte character of Harlequin)