Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Beautiful small rocaille cartel in finely chased bronze and gilded with mercury.
Model in violin shape with acanthus staples decoration, the lower part decorated with a dolphin facing a howling chimera.
At the top, the god Neptune is enthroned on a mound and seems to adjust the threatening animal with his trident.
The central part presents the blue enamelled dial on a white background which indicates the hours and minutes by two openwork bronze hands.
It is signed "Boucheret à Paris" like the back plate.
The reverse side of the dial signed "Martinière Juin 1742* ".
Original movement with silk thread suspension, in perfect working order, revised by our watchmaker.
The back door finely engraved with stylized acanthus.
Very good quality of chasing ; original gilding with mercury.
Marked with a crowned "C".
The bronze case attributable to the bronzier Jacques Caffieri.
Parisian work of the Louis XV period, circa 1745.
Dimensions :
Height : 40 cm ; Width : 24 cm
Our view :
The small cartel that we present is an allegory symbolizing the protection of the kingdom of France by gods.
Indeed Neptune, god of the sea is about to come to the aid of the Dauphin by attacking the chimera which threatens him.
Under the Ancien Regime the title of dauphin was given at birth to the eldest son of the reigning king of France.
The inscription on the reverse of the dial and the crowned "C" mark allow us to date its conception to 1745.
At that time, the eldest son of Louis XV, the Dauphin Louis is the object of all the attention because he is the only boy of the royal couple, and he has no less than eight sisters.
He represents the only hope for the monarchy to endure without war of succession and his allegorical representation will spread everywhere, especially in the decorative arts.
The quality of the chasing, attributable to Caffieri, the presence of a dial by Martinière who has just been appointed enameller of the king and the subject make this cartel a very beautiful object of collection.
*The crowned "C" mark is placed on all bronze works between March 1745 and February 1749.
It was a tax to finance the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748).
*Boucheret is mentioned in the Tardy dictionary of clockmakers as having worked in Paris, in the 18th century, in the cloister of St Denis de la Châtre.
His name appears on clocks from the end of the 17th century, which allows us to think that his career was in the years 1700-1750.
Like many clockmakers of this period we know very little, but the archives tell us that he collaborated with André-Charles Boulle and that he delivered several clocks to the elite of the nobility, notably to the Comptroller of Finances Nicolas Desmarets or to the Count of Tesse.
*Antoine-Nicolas Martinière was born in Paris in 1706.
He was the son of Nicolas Martinière (who died before 1736), Master Enameller and Patenotrier, and of Marie Dumergue.
In 1736 he married Geneviève Larsé, daughter of François Larsé, Master Watchmaker, who gave him a son, Jacques-Nicolas, born in 1738.
He was received as a Master on July 3, 1720, and registered as a Glassmaker, Tilemaker, Enameller and Pottery Maker.
In 1741, he received the title of Enameller and Pensioner of the King.
He was appointed Juror of his guild from 1744 to 1746.
Antoine-Nicolas Martinière will remain the most talented and famous Master Enameller of his generation. It was he who, between 1741 and 1742, at the age of 36, produced for the King the famous "Almanac perpétuel et toujours nouveau" kept in the Wallace Collection in London, as well as in 1747, the famous illustration on enamel of the battle of Fontenoy, kept in the National Museum of the Château de Versailles.
He is also the author of the decoration of several watches.
He was the supplier of the best watchmakers of his time, notably Julien Le Roy from 1731, Melchior Bonnaventure Balthazar, Louis Jouard, Jean-Baptiste Baillon from 1740, but also Étienne Le Noir, Gilles l'Ainé, Joachim Bailly, Jean Moisy, Lange de Bourbon (manufacturer of barometers) and many others, both in the French provinces and in Switzerland for the house of Funck in Bern.
In 1775, the supplement of the Tablettes de la Renommée reports him as still active.
He died in Paris on September 2, 1784.
*Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755)
The "Caffieri" are a family of sculptors and bronzemakers of Italian origin from the second half of the 17th and the 18th centuries.
The most prominent members of this large family are first of all its founder Philip I (1634-1716). Originally from Naples, Caffieri worked for the papacy and was then called to France by Mazarin (1660).
Thanks to this protection, he was quickly naturalized, housed at the Gobelins and employed in woodwork and furniture carving at Versailles and in the various royal castles. He specialized in the sculpture of ships in Le Havre and Dunkirk, but his passage at the Gobelins as well as his marriage had mixed him with the artistic circles of his time and had favored the careers of his children. François-Charles, his eldest son (1667-1729), succeeded him as sculptor and draughtsman of the king's ships (he himself passed on this responsibility to his son, Charles-Philippe, 1695-1766) and the youngest, Jacques (1678-1755), became a sculptor, founder and chiseller. The latter is especially famous for the furniture bronzes that he provides for the king or the princes, bronzes applied on furniture, chandeliers, candelabras, lights, clocks. His name often appears in the accounts of the King's Buildings for all the castles, especially Versailles. In spite of the imprecision of the texts, a certain number of his works can be identified : the commode of Gaudreaus for the king's room at Versailles, whose bronzes, unique fact, are signed (Wallace Collection, London) ; the two chandeliers of Madame Infante (also in the Wallace Collection); the bronzes of the chimney of the dauphin's room at Versailles with the terms of Zephyr and Flora, or the bronzes of Passemant's famous clock (1750-1753, at the Palace of Versailles). These reliable works, which have allowed a number of comparisons and attributions, clearly show the "Caffieri style", made of an extraordinary technique and incomparable creativity.
