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Lot Essay
Charles Baltazar, maître horloger in 1717.
During the 1740s through the end of the 1750s, these porcelain-mounted French clocks were popular throughout Europe. Their success was due primarily to the efforts of the Parisian marchands-merciers such as Lazare Duraux, who ordered porcelain pieces to be fitted into the bronze mounts, most notably the figures and flowers from the Meissen and Vincennes factories. The shepherd and animals are by Meissen's model Master, J. J. Kandler, who was responsible for creating these figures, a fashion which began as table decoration. An identical Meissen group, with different glazes, can be found in the Palazzo Pitti (see T. Clarke, Le porcellane tedesche di Palazzo Pitti, 1999, p. 156). The Balthazar dynasty of horlogers is first recorded in the late 17th century and flourished well into the 19th century. The movement of this clock is by Henri-Charles dit Charles Balthazar, elected maître in 1717, and first recorded in Place Dauphine in 1733. One of the most famous of his family, 'Horloger de Mesdames Filles de France', he used clock cases by B. Lieutaud, J.J. de St-Germain, A. Foullet and J. Goyer, and supplied movements to the ébénistes J. Dubois and J.F. Oeben. Among his clients were the Garde-Meuble Royal and the ambassador of Russia.
During the 1740s through the end of the 1750s, these porcelain-mounted French clocks were popular throughout Europe. Their success was due primarily to the efforts of the Parisian marchands-merciers such as Lazare Duraux, who ordered porcelain pieces to be fitted into the bronze mounts, most notably the figures and flowers from the Meissen and Vincennes factories. The shepherd and animals are by Meissen's model Master, J. J. Kandler, who was responsible for creating these figures, a fashion which began as table decoration. An identical Meissen group, with different glazes, can be found in the Palazzo Pitti (see T. Clarke, Le porcellane tedesche di Palazzo Pitti, 1999, p. 156). The Balthazar dynasty of horlogers is first recorded in the late 17th century and flourished well into the 19th century. The movement of this clock is by Henri-Charles dit Charles Balthazar, elected maître in 1717, and first recorded in Place Dauphine in 1733. One of the most famous of his family, 'Horloger de Mesdames Filles de France', he used clock cases by B. Lieutaud, J.J. de St-Germain, A. Foullet and J. Goyer, and supplied movements to the ébénistes J. Dubois and J.F. Oeben. Among his clients were the Garde-Meuble Royal and the ambassador of Russia.