Lot Essay
Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain, maître fondeur in 1748.
Pierre-Etienne Le Noir, recorded with his father Etienne on the Quai des Orfèvres from 1743.
This splendid 'pendule à l'éléphant' can be firmly attributed to the bronzier Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain on the basis of other examples of the model with the base signed 'ST GERMAIN', including one illustrated in H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 123, fig. 2.8.3, another in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland, and a further example offered Sotheby's Paris, 24 March 2006, lot 34.
The connection of the model to Saint-Germain's atelier is further strengthened by a mention in the inventory drawn up after the death of his wife in 1747 of 'deux pendules à l'éléphant l'une pour model et l'autre fondue prises ensemble la somme de cent dix livres'.
Pierre-Etienne Le Noir, recorded with his father Etienne on the Quai des Orfèvres from 1743.
This splendid 'pendule à l'éléphant' can be firmly attributed to the bronzier Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain on the basis of other examples of the model with the base signed 'ST GERMAIN', including one illustrated in H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 123, fig. 2.8.3, another in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland, and a further example offered Sotheby's Paris, 24 March 2006, lot 34.
The connection of the model to Saint-Germain's atelier is further strengthened by a mention in the inventory drawn up after the death of his wife in 1747 of 'deux pendules à l'éléphant l'une pour model et l'autre fondue prises ensemble la somme de cent dix livres'.