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A superb and extremely rare Directoire gilt bronze mounted enamel and marble astronomical skeleton clock showing both Gregorian and Revolutionary calendar markings, of eight day duration with beautifully polychrome painted white enamel dials and case by the renowned enamellist Georges Merlet, signed below 6 o’clock G. Merlet. The main dial with Roman and Arabic numerals for the hours and minutes and outside Arabic numerals 1-31 for the Gregorian calendar month set within floral lozenges interspersed by foliate and beaded decorations, with inner Arabic numerals for the 30 Republican days of the month set within gilded lozenges, with very fine pierced gilt brass hands for the hours and minutes, a blued steel pointer for the sweep centre seconds and a pair of a pierced blued steel hands for the calendar indications, with a cut-out dial centre to reveal the skeletonised movement with pin wheel escapement, knife edge suspension, striking on the hour and half hour on a single bell, with a free swinging Apollo head pendulum. The main dial surmounted by a subsidiary lunar dial with Arabic numerals for the 29 ½ days of the lunar month and a beautifully painted moon set against a gold star studded dark blue ground surrounded by gilt mounted clouds, above rockwork and foliage. With two subsidiary dial rings below, each with very fine pierced blued steel hands, the one to the left with names of the week and their corresponding symbols and outer names of the Republican calendar months, the dial ring to the right marked with the names of the months, their relevant symbol and number of days in each month, with a further dial ring below the C-arched frame marked with the summer and winter solstice and spring and autumn equinox with corresponding painted vignettes showing scenes appropriate to each season, the dark blue enamel arched frame with polychrome and gilded foliate scrolls within gilt mounted borders on turned white marble supports upon a rectangular rouge griotte marble base on turned feet
Paris, date circa 1795
Height 59 cm, width 31.5 cm, depth 14.5 cm.
This complex astronomical skeleton clock is not only beautiful but also very rare, especially as the dials indicate both the Gregorian and the new Revolutionary time system. These parallel time divisions corresponded with the introduction by the National Convention on 24th November 1793 of a decimal system, which was intended to replace the duo decimal Gregorian calendar. The new system stipulated that the months should be divided into 30 rather than 31 days, hence the main dial shows both 30 and 31 days of the month. Following this, days were to be divided into ten hours and hours into 100 minutes, while each month was divided into three decailles of ten days each. The beginning of the year was set at the autumn equinox, the reason for this was two-fold, firstly it coincided with the foundation of the Republic (22nd Sept) and secondly as the time when night and day were equal, it symbolised equality of all men. To this effect the lower left subsidiary dial is marked accordingly, beginning with Vendémiaire (from the Latin meaning vintage) and concluding with Fructidor (from the Latin meaning fruits). As the new time scale proved so complicated, in April 1795 it was abandoned, though as here, it also continued to be used in conjunction with the Gregorian but in 1806 it was abolished altogether.
During the Revolutionary years it was not unusual for clockmakers to protect their anonymity and thus the diamond-shaped plaque below the main dial remains blank. However there is no doubt that a clock of this complexity would have been made by a leading maker such as Robert Robin, Horloger du Roi (1741-99). In contrast the enamellists appeared less concerned about signing their work at this period, hence the dial bears the name of the eminent painter Georges-Adrien Merlet. Associated with the finest Louis XVI, Directoire and Empire clocks, Merlet was recorded in the rue des Lavandières Sainte-Opportune, Paris in 1812. He worked for a number of leading Parisian clockmakers, among whom was Robert Robin, Jean-Baptiste Lepaute and Jean-Simon Cousin, Horloger du comte d’Artois.
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