Offered by Franck Baptiste Provence
Rare set including a pendulum and two finely chiseled and gilded bronze candelabra. The clock decorated with a finely chiseled central pillar and adorned with the attributes of the arts and sciences to which are leaning two goddesses carrying baskets on their heads from which come out the cornucopias overflowing with bunches of grapes and ears of wheat and holding in their hands garlands of flowers ending in the mouth of a twisted serpent. In front of each goddess, two Athenian tripods in Etruscan adorned with goat's heads let the sacred fire burst forth. The movement is contained in a cylinder placed on the pillar, above, Cupid resting on a cloud brandishes a bow and a flaming torch.
The white enamelled dial is adorned with Arabic numerals and two finely chiseled and perforated gilt bronze hands. It is signed “Cachard suc.r de Ch. Le Roi in Paris. "*
The base with friezes of palm leaves is centered on a medallion decorated with a rooster and rests on six spinning feet.
The pair of candelabra offers three sconces.
The cylindrical barrels are decorated with friezes of palmettes on which stand two vestals draped in the antique style.
They hold on their heads and in their hands scrolls in arabesques of eagle heads and bunches of grapes ending in sconces.
Perfect state of conservation.
Great qualities of chasing and gilding with triple patinas, black, shiny and amatie.
French Revolutionary work circa 1793-1794.
Dimensions:
Pendulum: Height: 58 cm, Width: 36 cm; Depth: 11cm
Candelabra: Height: 50 cm
Similar pendulums:
Two clocks page 265 of the book by Pierre Kjellberg: "Encyclopedia of the French clock", former Jacques Perrin and Pascal Izarn collections.
A clock sale Sotheby's London December 2, 2008 lot 169: 23,600 euros.
* The signature of our pendulum is extremely rare and was used during the period of terror. Etienne Augustin Le Roy is the son of Charles le Roy, he comes from a great dynasty of watchmaking. A great Parisian watchmaker, supplier to the royal family and bearing a royal-sounding name, he was threatened with death from the first days of the revolution. From 1790 and in order to be able to continue his luxurious production he signed his pieces with the anagram "Elyor" but very quickly this was no longer enough to deceive the bloodthirsty revolutionary troops. In 1793 he fictitiously sold his business to his first worker called Cachard. The subterfuge is perfect, a worker who takes over one of the largest watchmaking workshops in Paris, that appeals to the authorities and the great nobility who obviously know that the real boss is always the same. Despite the turmoil, Etienne Augustin Le Roy produced a few masterpieces during this period, notably our model of pendulum, of the last great taste of the end of the Louis XVI period. In addition to the fictitious signature of his worker, he will take great care to adorn this clock with a rooster, symbol of the young emerging republic. Using only boxes from the greatest craftsmen in the capital, our model can be compared to the productions of the bronzier François Raymond (1747-1812).
Our opinion :
Our trim is a rare example of luxury watchmaking produced during the revolutionary period; it is inspired by elements from the collections of the great Etruscan style specialist Robert Adam (1728-1792), the final drawing, which has not come down to us, is probably by Jean-Démosthène Dugourc (1749-1825) or de Percier and Fontaine whose nickname was quite simply… the Etruscan.
The whole combines exceptional qualities of carving and gilding with arabesques characteristic of the work of the great bronzier François Remond (1747-1812)
The movement of one of the greatest watchmakers of the 18th century presents a fictitious signature of the greatest rarity.
The Etruscan style is the height of refinement at the end of the reign of Louis XVI, it is this style that is perfectly illustrated by the armchairs of Georges Jacob or the service of sèvres at the dairy of Rambouillet. Queen Marie Antoinette owned several "vestal clocks bearing the sacred fire" which she had delivered in 1788 and 1789.
Our trim is in our eyes worthy of the greatest collections.
