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A very fine and large sized quarter striking Régence gilt bronze mounted brass and tortoiseshell Boulle marquetry cartel clock with original bracket of eight day duration, signed on a white enamel cartouche below the dial and on the movement Paillard à Paris, with magnificent case attributed to the ébéniste Louis Chéron. The arched gilt brass dial with outer ring engraved with Arabic numerals for the minutes and white enamel cartouches with blue Roman numerals for the hours, centrally cast with a cockerel above a pair of cornucopiae flanking an Apollo mask, with a fine pair of sculptured blued steel hands for the hours and minutes. The movement with anchor escapement, striking on the hour on a single bell and on the quarters on two bells. The fine case decorated overall en prèmière-partie with inverted bell-top surmounted by the winged figure of Father Time holding his scythe and seated on an orb above a central satyr mask and trailing foliate scrolls punctuated by a pair of cockerels flanking the dial, the glazed door centred below the dial by a standing winged Cupid personifying Fidelity with quiver of arrows across his back holding a key in his left hand and playing with a leaping dog, above a scallop and foliate scrolls flanked either side at the angles by four espagnolettes terminated by foliate scrolled feet, the original concave-shaped bracket with satyr masks to the four corners centred above by a scallop and terminated by a foliate and berried boss
Paris, date circa 1720
Height 150 cm, width 57 cm.
Literature: Jean-Dominique Augarde, “Les Ouvriers du Temps”, 1996, p. 315, pl. 241, illustrating an almost identical clock case housing a movement by Foullé à Paris.
Since the clock is of an unusually large size it is probable that it was made as a régulateur from which the time was set for all other clocks in the same residence. The magnificent Boulle inlaid case can be safely attributed to the ébéniste Louis Chéron (fl. 1720-40) based on the fact that there exists an almost identical clock case (illustrated in J-D. Augarde, ibid.), which has the same inlays and bronze mounts. That clock, which has three enamelled cartouches bearing the inscriptions ‘Chéron ébéniste’, ‘D. Saint-Jean-de Latran à Paris’ and ‘Foullé à Paris’, came from an ancient Marquis collection sold in Paris on 10th February 1890, lot 92 and later sold in Paris 9th December 1961, lot 51. According to Augarde this is the only known case model by Louis Chéron. Like many other eighteenth century clock case makers he lived within the Paris walls in the cloisters of Saint-Jean de Latran, close by to other makers in the neighbourhood of Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. Of the fifty identified ébénistes specialising in clock cases at this period, twenty of them lived in this area; among them was André-Charles Boulle who specialised in making inlaid cases very similar to the present example.
The present case is distinguished by its impressive bronze mounts notably the surmounting figure of Father Time carrying his familiar scythe. A number of early eighteenth century clocks (such as a Boulle mantle clock housing a movement by Paul Gudin, circa 1715-25 in the J. P. Getty Museum, California) show Father Time in conjunction with Cupid alluding to the theme of Love conquering Time. However here Cupid, who stands below the dial, also personifies Fidelity since he carries a key and is accompanied by a dog, both attributes of Fidelity. Thus in this instance one can also interpret the imagery as Love as well as Fidelity triumphing over Time. The same figure of Father Time surmounts a Boulle mantle clock known as the pendule de Robert de Cotte based on a drawing by Pierre Lepaute, (illustrated in Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzen”, 1986, p. 489, pls. 17a and b). The latter, as well as an attributed Boulle barometer in the Wallace Collection, London (illustrated in Peter Hughes, “The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture”, 1996, vol. I, pp. 330-4, no. 81, F15) includes satyr masks similar to those featured here.
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