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Lot Essay
The signature on the movement is either that of Louis Larsé, maître horloger in 1721, or Jean-François Larsé, who in 1734 presented to the Académie Royale des Sciences a pendule à répétition which was described by Thiout.
This clock is remarkable for such an early date for the fact that it is entirely conceived in ormolu, at a time when almost all large-scale clocks were made using a wooden carcase and often embellished with Boulle marquetry. The finely chased ram's masks, or têtes de belier, recall the work of André-Charles Boulle, who often incorporated them into candelabra or at the tops of supports for cabinets and torcheres, while the espagnolette female masks of the base are more reminiscent of the work of Charles Cressent, who would often incorporate similar motifs as angle mounts for his grandest bureaux plats.
Only one other clock of this model entirely conceived in ormolu is recorded (sold anonymously Christie's, Paris, 21 June 2006, lot 246, 108,000 Euros inc. premium), while a further example incorporating the same mounts, but with the addition of Boulle marquetry panels, was sold Christie's, London, 20 June 1985, lot 37 (also illustrated J. D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 61, fig. 38).
This clock is remarkable for such an early date for the fact that it is entirely conceived in ormolu, at a time when almost all large-scale clocks were made using a wooden carcase and often embellished with Boulle marquetry. The finely chased ram's masks, or têtes de belier, recall the work of André-Charles Boulle, who often incorporated them into candelabra or at the tops of supports for cabinets and torcheres, while the espagnolette female masks of the base are more reminiscent of the work of Charles Cressent, who would often incorporate similar motifs as angle mounts for his grandest bureaux plats.
Only one other clock of this model entirely conceived in ormolu is recorded (sold anonymously Christie's, Paris, 21 June 2006, lot 246, 108,000 Euros inc. premium), while a further example incorporating the same mounts, but with the addition of Boulle marquetry panels, was sold Christie's, London, 20 June 1985, lot 37 (also illustrated J. D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 61, fig. 38).