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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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An extremely rare Louis XV gilt bronze cartel clock signed on the white enamel dial J Robert etFils a La Chaux De Fonds, with outer Arabic numerals for the minutes and inner Roman numerals for the hours with a very fine pair of pierced gilt brass hands. The beautiful gilt bronze case attributed to Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germam, of foliate cartouche outline ornamented with roses, foliage and scrolls with a glazed pendulum aperture beneath the dial La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, date circa 1745-50 Height 53 cm. width 35 cm. Uterature: Hems Ottomeyer and Peter Proschel, "Vergoldete Bmnyyn ", 19 86, p. 116, pis. 2.5.7. and 2.5.8, illustrating similar cartel cases by St. Germain. Pierre Kjellberg, "Encyclopedic de la Pendule Francaise du Moy en Age au XXe Siecle", 1997, p. 95, pi. F, illustrating a similar case. The fine gilt bronze case of asymmetrical outline embellished with roses and scrolls is typical of the work of Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain, known as St. Germain, who was one of the leading Parisian fondeur-ciseleurs of the eighteenth century. His firm specialised in making clock cases, three of which are in the Louvre, Paris. Other cases by St. Germain can be seen at the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge and a monumental clock case with allegorical figures in the Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen. The maker of the movement Josue Robert (1691-1771) was appointed Clockmaker to the King of Prussia in 1725. He was a very famous clockmaker from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland and rightly described by Alfred Chapuis as 'jouissant d'une grande consideration', (A Chapuis, "Histoire de la Pendulerie Neuchateloise", 1917, p. 484). Robert was the father of Captains David (1717-69) and Louis-Benjamin (1732-81) and of Jonas-Pierre and with Louis founded the renowned firm of J. Robert et Fils. Louis subsequently went into association with Louis Courvoisier to form the firm of J. Robert et Fils et Cie. Josue Robert's name is also intimately associated with other well known makers from La Chaux-de-Fonds, for instance he employed Jacques Vuillame, 1730 and had as apprentices Abram Sandoz and Abram DuPasquier in 1739. One of his nieces, who married Abraham-Louis Sandoz, was mother-in-law to Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-90), an ingenious maker of automata and mechanical clocks. http://www.richardreddingantiques.com/collection/horology/j-robert-et-fils |
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