 /images/left.gif){kind=small}
|
RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
 |
|
|
RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
|
|
An extremely rare Louis XVI gilt bronze cartel clock of eight day duration, signed on the white enamel dial Courieult à Paris, the dial with Arabic and Roman numerals and a fine pair of gilt brass hands for the hours and minutes. The twin-barrel movement with anchor escapement, silk thread suspension, striking on the hour and half hour on a single bell, with outside count wheel. The magnificent oak leaf wrapped and laurel garlanded stepped case surmounted by a vase draped with fruiting laurel swags enveloping the dial which in turn is flanked by military trophies comprising a Centurion’s breastplate issuing a club and surmounted by a plumed helmet, the dial above a glazed pendulum aperture and pierced base and a draped ram’s head boss Paris, dated circa 1770 Height 82 cm, width 39 cm. The style of this extremely rare cartel of monumental proportions owes much to the goût Grec designs of the Parisian architect and ornamental designer Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-89) and the renowned bronzier Jean-Louis Prieur (b. 1725 d. after 1785), which were disseminated through several editions of engraved plates dating from the late 1760’s. While Prieur’s designs were more commonly proposals submitted for a specific intent within a defined commission, Delafosse’s ornamental designs for such items as trophies, cartouches, clocks, chenets (first published as part of his “Nouvelle Iconologie Historique†in 1768 and reedited in expanded versions during the 1770’s), were intended to be used by artisans working in a wide range of media, who in turn either made pieces according to the published design or merely borrowed or used certain elements from it. The present military trophies point to an attribution to Delafosse even though designs for cartels tend to be less frequent within his oeuvre. Of the few known examples one can cite a drawing by Delafosse for a cartel with putti, musical and military trophies in the Bibliothèque de L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, published in “L’Oeuvre de Delafosse, Cahiers de bronzes, vases orfèvrerie, etcâ€(Paris, undated). In addition there is another known design of circa 1770 by Delafosse in the Musée de la Ville at Poitiers for a cartel clock decorated with military trophies, which is surmounted by a pair of helmets and a laurel wreath crown, flanked by a pair of axes and lavishly embellished overall with fruiting laurel swags (illustrated in Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzenâ€, 1986, p. 183, pl. 3.8.7). Furthermore Delafosse’s style was often associated with rams’ head ornaments such as a model for candelabra known as à tête de bélier circa 1770 in the Musée du Louvre, of which one pair of candelabra were supplied to the prince de Condé in 1779 by the marchand-mercier Quentin-Claude Pitoin (illustrated ibid. p. 186, pl. 3.9.2). http://www.richardreddingantiques.com/collection/horology/a-louis-xvi-gilt-bronze-cartel-clock-by-courieult-a-paris |
|
|