An overview on Deverberie & Cie
Compiled by Fred Kats
2019
Jean Simon Deverberie
Disigner Bronzier Horloger á Paris 1764-1824

Courtesy 'La pendulerie' Exceptional clocks, Paris.
Jean Simon
Deverberie (1764-1824) was one of the most important Parisian
bronziers of the late 18th century.
Paris trade almanac. Deverberie is listed
from 1798 to 1823 in the Paris Trade Almanac at 483 rue Barbette in the Marais district, at the time occupied by a population of
artisans and workers, Boulevard Du Temple (1801), 47 Rue des Fosses-du-Temple
(1804), 30 Rue des Fosses-du-Temple
(1806) now rue Amelot, in
the eleventh arrondissement.

Since 1812 Rue des Fosses du Temple no. 47
The spelling of his name varies: De
Verberie,
Deverberie, Verbery or Verberie, as well as the trades attributed to
him; clockmaker, founder, gilder, manufacturer and bronze dealer.
Freedom of enterprise. Due to the abolition of
mandatory Guild membership, as
laid down by Le Chapelier's law in 1791, Deverberie together with Jean George
Hertzog, was able to carry out more than one profession within one
company. Although Deverberie himself made clocks, he also produced clocks with
movements and dials from renowned clockmakers such as; Henri Lepaute,
Jean-Antoine Lépine, Jean-Claude Lemoine, Marc Sandoz and
Nicolas-Pierre-François Dubuc. On
Nivôse 23 of the year
VII
(January 12, 1799) Deverberie officially registered thirteen of his
designs, followed by others later.
Structures and patterns. The structures and patterns
of the pieces he shapes are varied. In the style of the Ancien Régime
with lyre clocks or pastoral scenes dear to Marie-Antoinette
(1755-1793), it also follows the new trends of the Directoire era and
those of the Empire style with clocks on the theme "return from Egypt" or in the form of chariots whose wheel serves as a dial. He draws
his inspiration from Greco-Roman mythology. Gods and goddesses, Graces
and Lovers adorn his creations such as Bacchus, Hera or Cupid that he
represents as a painter or blacksmith. Some works evoke episodes from
the stories of Homer or Ovid, such as Ganymede and Zeus, Leda and the
Swan, others are allegories of the sciences or arts in the guise of the
muses Thalie and Uranie.
America and Africa.
Deverberie & Cie. has become most
famous for his clock cases depicting African and American natives. In
addition to Deverberie, his contemporary Jean-André Reiche (1752-1817) also worked in this style.
They were one of the first to use the theme of the "noble savage" for a
clock case, also called Pendule "L'Afrique" or Pendule "Au Nègre". These were
created in a historical and social context of slow awakening of
consciousness since the Revolution abolished slavery in France in 1792
but that Napoleon restored it in 1802. Although he popularized this
genre, Deverberie was not the inventor of this type of clocks, since
there are earlier examples like those of Charles Voisin (1685-1761) and
Jean-Baptiste-André Furet (1720-1807).
Robinson Crusoe. Tales of
travel such as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", theories of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and writings of Bernardin de
Saint-Pierre (1737-1814) formed the source of inspiration for these
mantel clocks in the period from 1795 to 1815. Clockmakers seized this
theme as it offered them the opportunity to draw an aesthetic advantage
of the contrast of patinas. Black for the skin of the natives and gilded
for accessories.
Economic crisis.
Documents dd 28 nov. 1803 concerning Deverberie's financial trouble, list
many illustrious sub contractors as his creditors and hint at the
importance of Deverberie's firm, but also illustrates he barely
survived the economic crisis at the beginning of the 19th century.
Fortunately his clocks with exotic subjects were quit sought after,
hence produced in substantial quantities.
Catalogue de vente. Thanks to their release on the Digital library of the
French Institut National d'Histoire d'Art, here below an overview of clock case
model engravings sourced from Deverberie's so called 'catalogue de vente'.
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MODÈLES DE PENDULES
De la Maison Deverberie
Summary
of
the
Catalogue
de vente
Published after Deverberie moved to
Rue des Fosses du Temple.
Courtesy INHA Institut National d'Histoire d'Art
Link to
source document
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7. Pendule lyre avec pieds en forme de pattes de bouc Lyre
Mantel clock with feet shaped like goat's feet
Courtesy INHA


8. Pendule avec deux aigles. Mantel clock with two eagles
Courtesy INHA

9. Pendule soutenu par deux putti. Mantel clock supported by
two putti. Courtesy INHA


10. Pendule avec deux putti portant des brûleurs d'encens sur la
tête. Mantel clock with two putti carrying incense burners on his
head Courtesy INHA


11. Pendule avec deux cygnes. Mantel clock with two swans.
Courtesy INHA


12. Pendule lyre avec masque de Méduse. Lyre Mantel clock with
Medusa mask. Courtesy INHA


13. Pendule avec un masque de Méduse et ornements floraux. Mantel
clock with a Medusa mask and floral ornaments. Courtesy INHA

14. Pendule dite du Négrillon porteur. Mantel clock known as the
Negrillon bearer. Courtesy INHA


15. Pendule avec Cupidon peignant un lion. Mantel clock
with cupid painting a lion. Courtesy INHA


16. Pendule avec Cupidon et Minerve enlacés. Mantel clock with
Cupid and Minerva entwined. Courtesy INHA


17. Pendule avec ornements floraux et végétaux. Mantel clock with
floral
and plant ornaments. Courtesy INHA


18. Pendule dite des deux Négrillons soutenant un portique.
Mantel clock known as two Negrillons supporting a portico. Courtesy
INHA


19. Pendule avec enfants jouant de la double flûte. Mantel
clock with children playing double flute. Courtesy INHA

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20. Pendule avec allégorie de l'Amérique. Mantel clock with
Allegory of America. Courtesy INHA


21. Pendule avec allégorie de l'Afrique. Mantel clock with
allegory of Africa. Courtesy INHA


22. Pendule avec décor Retour d'Egypte. Mantel clock with
decoration Return from Egypt. Courtesy INHA


23. Pendule avec enfant portant un flambeau et son chien. Mantel
clock with child carrying a torch, and his dog. Courtesy INHA


24. Pendule avec Cupidon forgeron. Mantel clock with Cupid the
blacksmith. Courtesy INHA


25. Pendule avec Uranie, allégorie de l'astronomie. Mantel clock
with Urania, allegory of astronomy. Courtesy INHA


26. Pendule avec Bacchus. Mantel clock with Bacchus. Courtesy
INHA


27. Pendule avec Thalie, allégorie de la comédie. Mantel clock
with Thalia, allegory of comedy. Courtesy INHA


28. Pendule avec Héra. Mantel clock with Hera. Courtesy INHA


29. Pendule avec allégorie de la sculpture. Mantel clock with
allegory of sculpture. Courtesy INHA


30. Pendule avec Indien et Indienne enlacés. Mantel clock with
male and female Indian entwined. Courtesy INHA


31. Pendule avec Ganymède et Zeus transformé en aigle. Mantel
clock with Ganymede and Zeus turned into an eagle. Courtesy INHA


32. Pendule avec Léda et le cygne. Mantel clock with Leda and the
swan. Courtesy INHA


33. Pendule avec couple enlacé. Mantel clock with embracing
couple. Courtesy INHA


34. Pendule en forme de portail de temple. Mantel clock shaped
temple portal. Courtesy INHA


35. Pendule avec Aphrodite sur son char. Mantel clock with
Aphrodite on her chariot. Courtesy INHA


36. Pendule avec couple de bergers et leurs chiens. Mantel clock
with a couple of shepherds and their dogs. Courtesy INHA


37. Pendule avec Héra sur son char. Mantel clock with Hera on her
chariot. Courtesy INHA

This compilation is derived from various printed and online sources
as mentioned below.
- Elodie Desserie INHA Deverberie, un horloger de son temps.
- La pendulerie Exceptional clocks, Paris. - Jean-Dominique Augarde, Les Ouvriers du temps: la pendule à Paris
de Louis XIV à Napoléon 1er, Genève, Antiquorum, 1996. -
Marie-Christine Delacroix, Les Pendules au Nègre Août 1978.
- Pierre Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen
Age au XXe siècle, Paris, Éditions de l'Amateur, 1997. - Richard
Redding Antiques, Madetswil, Switzerland. -
Dr. Crott auktionen Mannheim. -
Kollenburg Antiquairs BV Oirschot The Netherlands. - Béatrice
Mura, Les Pendules au Nègre à l'Heure de Deverberie, Novembre
1990, p. 34-45. -
Musée de l'Hôtel Sandelin, La pendule au nègre exposition 29
avril-12 juin 1978, Saint-Omer, Le Musée, 1978. - Harm Botje,
Planetarium Zuylenburgh, Jean-Simon De Verberie and the Pendules au
Nègre. - Charlotte Vignon, Deverberie & Cie: Drawings,
Models, and Works in Bronze, Cleveland Studies in the History of
Art, vol. 8, 2003, p. 170–187.
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