James Stratton
Director
Lot 110Y
A fine late 17th century brass-inlaid ebony and tortoiseshell Religieuse clock Jacques Langlois, Paris
22 June 2021, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £5,100 inc. premium
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A fine late 17th century brass-inlaid ebony and tortoiseshell Religieuse clock
Jacques Langlois, Paris
The arched case with a pair of suspension eyes to the rear and surmounted by three flambeau finials on moulded cornices supported by six applied cast gilt brass corbel mounts, the sides with tall narrow glazed panels with moulded frames, on a moulded base and decorated ball feet, the 6.75 inch chapter ring with each minute hand engraved to the outer edge enclosing the Roman numerals and 'meeting arrow-head' half hour markers and quarter hour track, with fine pierced and engraved gilt brass hands, the chapter ring apparently held aloft by the naked figure of Chronos seated below on a plinth set with attributes of Time, Commerce and the Arts above the silvered signature plate signed 'Langlois a Paris', all set on a dark velvet ground, the 12 day-duration movement with rectangular plates united by five tapering vase-shaped pillars pinned through the backplate, signed along the lower edge 'Jacques Langlois, A Paris' the going train with verge escapement to a short bob pendulum suspended on silk between cycloidal cheeks, the strike train with solid outside countwheel engraved 1-12 with vertical hammer striking the bell mounted above and with elaborate steel stopwork. Ticking and striking. Together with a winding key and door key. 47cms (18.5ins) high
The arched case with a pair of suspension eyes to the rear and surmounted by three flambeau finials on moulded cornices supported by six applied cast gilt brass corbel mounts, the sides with tall narrow glazed panels with moulded frames, on a moulded base and decorated ball feet, the 6.75 inch chapter ring with each minute hand engraved to the outer edge enclosing the Roman numerals and 'meeting arrow-head' half hour markers and quarter hour track, with fine pierced and engraved gilt brass hands, the chapter ring apparently held aloft by the naked figure of Chronos seated below on a plinth set with attributes of Time, Commerce and the Arts above the silvered signature plate signed 'Langlois a Paris', all set on a dark velvet ground, the 12 day-duration movement with rectangular plates united by five tapering vase-shaped pillars pinned through the backplate, signed along the lower edge 'Jacques Langlois, A Paris' the going train with verge escapement to a short bob pendulum suspended on silk between cycloidal cheeks, the strike train with solid outside countwheel engraved 1-12 with vertical hammer striking the bell mounted above and with elaborate steel stopwork. Ticking and striking. Together with a winding key and door key. 47cms (18.5ins) high
Footnotes
Literature:
Plomp, R. 'Early French Pendulum Clocks, 1658-1700'. Schiedam, figures 172, 173 and 174.
Plomp speaks at length on the possibility that Andre Charles Boulle is responsible for many of the clock cases using the inlay technique which later took his name. A clock design by him in the Museee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris shows a recumbent Chronos set below a clock dial looking up toward the passage of the hands around the dial - a corresponding clock by Jacques Thuret of about 1710 can be seen in The Wallace Collection, London. Plomp reasons that the earlier variant Chronos mount - as seen on this clock - can reasonably be traced back to the same workshop. There are minor differences in the design of course, but the 'feel' of the interplay between the figure, the chapter ring and the very passing of time is the same. In this early version, Chronos is turned away from the dial almost as though he cannot bear to face the fact that it's passing is so swift.
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