Rocaille clock with marquetry base, Paris, Louis XV period

Rare standing clock in finely chiseled and mercury-gilded bronze, with its base in violet wood veneer.
The violin case features a rich rococo decoration made up of staples of acanthus leaves treated in cockscomb and enriched with flowers.
At the top a chimera is grappling with an eagle.
The four nervously arched and rolled feet end in fine shells.
The white and blue enameled dial indicates the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals, it is signed “Moisy à Paris” and “A.N Martinère Pnaire du Roi, le 14 Obre 1749”* on the reverse on the counter enamel.

The original silk-thread suspended movement strikes the hours, quarters and half on demand, by pulling.

It is engraved on the back of the plate “Moisy Paris”.

Perfect working condition, serviced by our watchmaker.

The cartel is presented on its original base in violet wood veneer on an oak core.
It is nervously treated, with a polylobed ogee shape, rich openwork bronzes and protective corners for the edges.

The bronze case attributable to the foundry engraver of the king Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755).

Very good state of conservation, high quality of original mercury carving and gilding.

Crowned c hallmark. (1745-1749)

Parisian work from the Louis XV period around 1750, most probably under the direction of the haberdashery merchant Lazare Duvaux.

Dimensions:

Case: Height: 40 cm; Width: 24cm; Depth: 10 cm
Base: Height: 8 cm; Width: 30cm; Depth: 17 cm
Total: Height: 48 cm; Width: 30 cm

A similar bronze clock with a movement by Charles Voisin is published on page 108 of the Book by Giacomo and Aurélie Wannenes “The Most Beautiful French Clocks”.

Our opinion :

Our clock, the model of which is considered exceptional in the book on the most beautiful French clocks, is of the greatest rarity, only a handful of examples being known to date.
The combination of gilded bronze and a magnificent violet wood base makes it particularly precious.
This type of base rarely accompanies a Louis XV period clock, because of the corporations which governed the production rights of each craftsman.
Only a haberdashery merchant could buy goods from the different corporations and assemble them, this was the very essence of his work, "merchant of everything maker of nothing" as Diderot said in the encyclopedia.
It is almost certain that we are dealing here with an order from the haberdashery merchant Lazare Duvaux (1703-1758).
Workers like Caffieri and Moisy worked extensively for him and appear numerous times in his diary book.
Jean Moisy is the author of several pieces assembled by Duvaux such as the organ clock kept at the Petit Palais or even clocks with porcelain subjects.
Lazare Duvaux's diary reports the sale of a Moisy clock to the intendant of the king's small pleasures in May 1756.
The latter could correspond to our pendulum.
In fact, it was common to have a gap of several years between the date on the dial and its marketing.
Thus another cartel currently in our possession is dated 1742 on the dial and bears on the bronze the crowned “C” affixed between 1745 and 1749.
This is partly due to the different stages of design, manufacture of the dial then sale to a watchmaker, design of the movement then sale to a bronze maker etc etc
The hypothesis that it could well be our pendulum is reinforced by the fact that mention is made of a repeating model, that is to say with a draw as on our pendulum and by the fact that Lazare Duvaux did not sell simple clocks but rather clocks enriched with porcelain, lacquer, marquetry, etc.
As the most important haberdashery merchant in Paris, he would therefore have acted by ordering his pieces from the king's greatest craftsmen such as Caffieri, Martinière, Moisy and probably Migeon for the base.
This cabinetmaker is the main supplier of furniture to Lazare and Duvaux and the polylobed shape with monochrome marquetry corresponds perfectly to his production.
In any case, our clock perfectly represents the purest Louis XV rocaille style which reached its peak in the years 1745-1755.

*The crowned “C” hallmark is a mark affixed to all bronze works between March 1745 and February 1749.
This is a tax to finance the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748).



*Jean Moisy (1714-1782) was a watchmaker who became a master in Paris in 1753.
His talent allowed him to collaborate in turn with the three greatest bronziers of his time Caffieri, St Germain and finally Osmond at the end of his career.
He also worked assiduously for the best Mercier merchants in Paris like Lazare Duvaux, which allowed him to deliver two clocks to kings Louis XV for the castle of St Hubert and to have a clientele from the great nobility like the Duke of Praslin, the Prince of Talmont or even from finance like Randon de Boisset.