PENDULE A POSER - Epoque Louis XVI. - Lot 173

Lot 173
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Estimation :
1000 - 1500 EUR
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Result : 1 100EUR
PENDULE A POSER - Epoque Louis XVI. - Lot 173
PENDULE A POSER - Epoque Louis XVI. HANGING TO BE HANGED in carved wood, lacquered light grey and partially gilded, known as "à la Prudence", representing a young woman draped, leaning against a bollard intended to receive the dial and holding a snake wrapped around her left arm. She is looking at her mirror (now disappeared). Rectangular base decorated in its centre with a Daphne mask holding garlands of laurel. Louis XVI period. (Missing and accidents, some restorations, small basin brought back). D.: 44 x 37 x 14 cm. Rectangular base with upside down cavet in wood painted in trompe l'oeil in imitation of marble. Pendulum project or special order, we have not yet identified other examples in carved wood. The model of this clock was designed by Antoine Foullet (circa 1710-1775), cabinetmaker and Parisian merchant. The preparatory drawing of this clock appears in the Book of Drawings of Clocks, published circa 1765 under the title "Pièce de bureau, petite prudence, Foulet, color 275 livres, gilding 187 livres, gilding price 462 livres". It has a similar general shape with a figure of Prudence sitting, leaning against the movement and holding a mirror, a snake on the other arm. There are a few variations from the original drawing, particularly in the ornamentation of the base of the clock and the dial surround. A copy of this model of clock appears in the inventory after the death of Jean-Baptiste Baillon, Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Dauphine Marie-Antoinette, drawn up in 1772. An unsigned model (Inv. No 0A6625) is kept in the Louvre Museum. The Pavlovsk Palace, residence of Paul I in St. Petersburg, keeps a similar model with some variations of ornamentation in the Grand Duke's antechamber or "Secretary Room" (Inv. No. 1389-IV). The theme of Prudence was identified only late, Albert Jacquemart believed in 1884 that it was an allegory of Truth. It was also believed to be a representation of Cleopatra's