ERRATUM: Love clock reported, missing its... - Lot 76 - Kâ-Mondo

Lot 76
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Result : 77 000EUR
ERRATUM: Love clock reported, missing its... - Lot 76 - Kâ-Mondo
ERRATUM: Love clock reported, missing its ornament, some screws reported under the clock, grid on the reverse side perhaps reported. IMPORTANT HANGING CLOCK in chased and gilded bronze with two shades of gold, decorated with lovers, allegories of the arts. The oval base has a frieze of putti flanked by foliage. Two lovers, allegories of sculpture and literature, are represented standing on either side of a truncated column painted in trompe l'oeil in imitation of marble in which the movement is included. It is topped by an antique-style urn also painted in trompe-l'oeil in imitation of marble and decorated with vine branches, a lovebird at the base. White enamelled dial with Roman and Arabic numerals signed "Robin à Paris". In the urn, a rotating circle dial for the days of the month, signed Coteau, with enamelled gold cartouches and enhanced with green enamelled pearls. Small feet. Wire movement signed " Robin à Paris ". Louis XVI period. 53 × 37 × 21 cm. Love clock reported, missing its ornament, some screws reported under the clock, grid on the reverse perhaps reported. Robert ROBIN (1742-1799) was received as master clockmaker in Paris in 1767. Watchmaker to King Louis XVI then watchmaker to the Queen from 1786, Robin also worked for the Menus Plaisirs. Joseph COTEAU (1740-1812), was one of the most famous dial painters of the second half of the 18th century. He also worked as a painter on jewellery and porcelain. He settled in rue Poupée in Paris in 1778. Queen Marie-Antoinette had some clocks belonging to her deposited with Daguerre and Lignereux, merchants in rue Saint-Honoré. After her death, the Arts Commission commissioned Robin to draw up an inventory of the Queen's clocks and watches. The inventory of the 45 clocks belonging to the Queen is an important supplement to the lists of the Garde-Meuble and the Menus-Plaisirs. This inventory was drawn up by Robin in 1793 and entitled: "État de l'horlogerie de la ci-devant Reine entretenue par Robin horloger aux galeries du Louvre". Thus, the inventory (Archives Nationales, O.1. 3510-1) mentions among 45 clocks a model whose description is close to the one we present: "39 - A three-child clock composed of a bronze base on which are three children representing the arts leaning on a faux lapis column end, on which is a vase finished by the third child, the ringing movement with the name of Robin - Saint-Cloud". In his study, Pierre Verlet thinks to identify this clock from the Château de Saint-Cloud with the one kept in the Wallace collection in London (inv. F263), acquired by Lord Hertford at the time of the dispersion of the San Donato collection (Paris, 24 March 1870, lot 255). Nevertheless, the personifications represented do not seem to correspond to allegories of the Arts but rather to those of the Sciences. In fact, one can distinguish a love looking at the sky through a spyglass, symbolizing Astronomy, a second love holding a compass and accompanied by a rooster personifying Geography. It is therefore possible to identify the clock we are presenting as the one that belonged to Marie-Antoinette at the Château de Saint-Cloud. A similar clock signed Lepaute was sold in Paris (Christie's, 24 November 2020, lot 176). A clock similar to the one in the Wallace Collection in London is in the Huntington Collection (Inv. 27182). Bibliography : - TARDY, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris, 1971. - F.J.B. Watson, Wallace collection catalogue, William Clowes and Sons, London, 1956, plate 59. - LERY, E., Les pendules de Marie-Antoinette, Revue de l'histoire de Versailles et de Seine et Oise, April/June 1931, pp.95-100 Provenance: collection of the Marquis de Lagoy, by descent.
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