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Lot Essay
Two clocks of this basic model, but with the muses of Literature and Science in biscuit porcelain, as opposed to marble, flanking the Cockerel of France, are now in the Spanish Royal Collection. Supplied by the horloger and marchand François-Louis Godon (maître in 1787) and with dials signed by the émailleur Joseph Coteau, they are illustrated in J. Ramon Colon de Carvajal, Catalogo de Relojes del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1987, no.56, p.73. The fact that the offered clock's figures are carved out of white statuary marble- as opposed to being modelled and cast in either porcelain or bronze, both far cheaper options - is a clear indication of the quality and obvious importance of the original commission.
The seated figures of Literature and Science recall the work of the sculpteur Simon-Louis Boizot, who is known to have created similar figures of L'Etude and La Philosophie for the Sèvres manufactory in 1780. Boizot's groups were subsequently incorporated in the celebrated design for a closely related clock attributed to the bronzier François Rémond of circa 1783, which itself is thought to have derived from one by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. This supposition is reinforced by the fact that in 1788, Daguerre delivered two clocks of this model for Louis XVI's use at the château de Saint-Cloud (P. verlet, les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, PAris, 1987, p.322).
A clock of closely related model corresponding to Rémonds design was sold by the Executors of the 2nd Viscount Camrose, Hackwood Park, Christie's House sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 77 (£23,000).
The seated figures of Literature and Science recall the work of the sculpteur Simon-Louis Boizot, who is known to have created similar figures of L'Etude and La Philosophie for the Sèvres manufactory in 1780. Boizot's groups were subsequently incorporated in the celebrated design for a closely related clock attributed to the bronzier François Rémond of circa 1783, which itself is thought to have derived from one by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. This supposition is reinforced by the fact that in 1788, Daguerre delivered two clocks of this model for Louis XVI's use at the château de Saint-Cloud (P. verlet, les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, PAris, 1987, p.322).
A clock of closely related model corresponding to Rémonds design was sold by the Executors of the 2nd Viscount Camrose, Hackwood Park, Christie's House sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 77 (£23,000).