Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Important bronze cartel finely chiseled and gilded with mercury.
Neoclassical model, with a slightly fiddled body, framed by a decoration of ribbons, garlands of laurel leaves and a goddess mask.
The upper part is surmounted by an antique cassolette which lets the sacred fire escape.
The white enamel dial is signed "Hoguet. l.j.n in Paris".
It indicates the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals by two finely openworked hands.
Original movement with silk thread suspension; perfect working order.
The crate signed on the right side "Osmond".*
Original mercury gilding, high quality carving.
Beautiful original rear sheet metal from a recovery, with finely engraved coat of arms.
Workshop of the Osmond brothers, Paris transition from the Louis XV-Louis XVI periods around 1775.
Dimensions:
Height: 73cm; Width: 38cm
The drawing of our clock is kept under No. 36 in the "collection of clocks, models of clocks from the years 1755-1780", kept at the IHNA library in Paris, Doucet collection.
Our opinion :
As indicated by the mark present on our clock and the mention indicated in the index of the collection of drawings, our column clock is indeed the work of the famous bronziers Robert and Jean Baptiste Osmond who work in the same workshop from 1753 and use the same brand.
The qualities of carving and gilding confirm the talent of these bronziers who figured with St Germain and Caffieri, in the top three of the best craftsmen of the reign of Louis XV.
These three bronziers, whose models are abundantly copied, will carry the project to stamp their work; laws which will be voted by the corporation of the founders chisels in the years 1765.
The mark present on our cartel confirms the authentic work carried out in the workshop of the Osmond family.
By its classic purity, this model, called by the Osmond brothers "large model ribbon cartel" or "royal model" will experience great success at the end of the reign of Louis XV.
*Robert Osmond (1711 - 1789) was born in Canisy, near Saint-Lô; he did his apprenticeship in the studio of Louis Regnard, a master foundryman in earth and sand, becoming a master bronzier in Paris in 1746. We find him first in the rue des Canettes, parish of St Sulpice, and from 1761, in the rue de Mason. Robert Osmond becomes a juror of his corporation, thus ensuring a certain protection of his rights as a creator. In 1753 his nephew left Normandy to join him, and in 1761, the workshop moved to rue de Macon. The nephew, Jean-Baptiste Osmond (1742-after 1790) was received master in 1764; after this date, he works with his uncle; their collaboration was so close that it is difficult to distinguish between the contributions of one and the other. Robert Osmond retired around 1775. Jean-Baptiste, who continued to run the workshop after the departure of his uncle, soon ran into difficulties; he went bankrupt in 1784. His uncle Robert died in 1789.
Bronziers and prolific engravers, the Osmonds practiced the Louis XV and neoclassical styles with equal success. Their works, appreciated at their fair value by connoisseurs of the time, were marketed by watchmakers and merchants-mercers. Although they produced all sorts of furniture bronzes, including andirons, sconces and inkwells, today they are best known for their clock cases, such as the one depicting the Rape of Europe ( Getty Museum, Malibu, CA,) in the Louis XV style, and two important neoclassical clocks, of which there are several models, as well as a vase with a lion's head (Musée Condé de Chantilly and the Cleveland Museum of Art) and a cartel with engraved ribbons (examples in the Stockholm Nationalmuseum and the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris). A remarkable clock, adorned with a globe, cupids, and a plaque in Sèvres porcelain (Louvre, Paris) is also among their important works.
First devoted to the rococo style, in the early 1760s they adopted the new neoclassical style, of which they soon became masters. They supplied boxes to the best watchmakers of the time, including Montjoye, for whom they created boxes of cartonnier clocks and column clocks; the column being one of the favorite motifs of the Osmond workshop.
*Jean Gatien Hoguet is a Parisian watchmaker received master in Paris in 1773, he comes from a line of great watchmakers.
His workshop is located rue Neuve de St-Merry.
He signs his works "Hoguet the Younger" to differentiate himself from his father who bears the same name and first name as him.
However, he was nicknamed "Hoguet the eldest" later, when his own son took over the workshop.
