Lot Essay
This figural clock produced by the Royal clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy (d.1811) is one of many executed in the 'French' neoclassical taste of the late 18th century, promoted by his patron, George III and his son the Prince of Wales, later George IV.
The clock bears the number 336 which can be traced in the Vulliamy Clock Books (now preserved in the British Horological Institute Library). The clock was supplied in 1803 to a Mr. Burmaster. Another clock of this model, numbered 322, was purchased in 1800 and a third, numbered 356, was sold by Henry Vyner, Christie's London, 29 March 1984, lot 17.
The manufacturing costs for this clock preserved in the manuscripts are as follows:
No. 336
(?)..Marble clock with two boys and an Eagle on the top.
Bullock, the movement........................£5.5.0.
Day the Marble.................................6.12.0
Brown engraving the top plate..................1.1.0
Brown engraving the plate in the plinth........1.11.6
Culver engraving the hands.......................5.6
Long & Drew, the Dial..........................1.1.0
Duesbury the two boys..........................1.1.0
Houle casting and chasing the Eagle............1.1.0
Barron the brass work..........................[no amount shown]
Crockett the gilding...........................[no amount shown]
Osborn the glass shade.........................1.5.0
Velvet the Glass shade...........................2.6
Brownley the Stand.............................[no amount shown]
Det to Mr. Burmaster
February 10, 1803
The clock is supported by palm-enriched trusses and incorporated a Grecian-style marble Cippus altar that is guarded by Jove's eagle and attended by youths emblematic of the sciences. Its pedestal's flowered-guilloche tablet derives from Apollo's temple at Palmyra, while the palmette-enriched tablet derives from the Erektheon temple at Athens.
Vulliamy's figural clocks were mounted with Derby biscuit porcelain figures which were modelled by sculptors working directly for the firm in London. The molds were then shipped to William Duesbury at Derby for the exclusive use of the Vulliamy firm. Vuillamy employed award winning sculptors from the Royal Academy to model his figures and many of these same figures were often reused and modified to accomodate updated designs. Correspondence between Benjamin Vulliamy and William Duesbury have brought to light some of the sculptors under his employ. The putto to the left (when facing the clock) is based on a figure by John Deare (d.1798) which appears on an astronomy clock dated 1785 (see T. Clifford, 'Vulliamy Clocks and British Sculpture', Apollo, October 1990, p.233, pl.I). The putto to the right was modelled by Charles Peart (d.1798), who worked with Vulliamy from 1787. The figure reappears on a clock illustrated in T. Clifford, op. cit, p. 234, fig.11.
Both French and English suppliers were used by the Vulliamy firm. The ormolu eagle and this clock was supplied by a Mr. Barrow (see below), but is directly copied from a model by the French bronze manufacturing family of Delafontaine who provided bronze mounts and ornaments for the firm. A Delafontaine eagle on a clock supplied to the Prince of Wales is illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, 'The Vulliamys and France', F.H.S.J., 1967, pl.13A.
The clock bears the number 336 which can be traced in the Vulliamy Clock Books (now preserved in the British Horological Institute Library). The clock was supplied in 1803 to a Mr. Burmaster. Another clock of this model, numbered 322, was purchased in 1800 and a third, numbered 356, was sold by Henry Vyner, Christie's London, 29 March 1984, lot 17.
The manufacturing costs for this clock preserved in the manuscripts are as follows:
No. 336
(?)..Marble clock with two boys and an Eagle on the top.
Bullock, the movement........................£5.5.0.
Day the Marble.................................6.12.0
Brown engraving the top plate..................1.1.0
Brown engraving the plate in the plinth........1.11.6
Culver engraving the hands.......................5.6
Long & Drew, the Dial..........................1.1.0
Duesbury the two boys..........................1.1.0
Houle casting and chasing the Eagle............1.1.0
Barron the brass work..........................[no amount shown]
Crockett the gilding...........................[no amount shown]
Osborn the glass shade.........................1.5.0
Velvet the Glass shade...........................2.6
Brownley the Stand.............................[no amount shown]
Det to Mr. Burmaster
February 10, 1803
The clock is supported by palm-enriched trusses and incorporated a Grecian-style marble Cippus altar that is guarded by Jove's eagle and attended by youths emblematic of the sciences. Its pedestal's flowered-guilloche tablet derives from Apollo's temple at Palmyra, while the palmette-enriched tablet derives from the Erektheon temple at Athens.
Vulliamy's figural clocks were mounted with Derby biscuit porcelain figures which were modelled by sculptors working directly for the firm in London. The molds were then shipped to William Duesbury at Derby for the exclusive use of the Vulliamy firm. Vuillamy employed award winning sculptors from the Royal Academy to model his figures and many of these same figures were often reused and modified to accomodate updated designs. Correspondence between Benjamin Vulliamy and William Duesbury have brought to light some of the sculptors under his employ. The putto to the left (when facing the clock) is based on a figure by John Deare (d.1798) which appears on an astronomy clock dated 1785 (see T. Clifford, 'Vulliamy Clocks and British Sculpture', Apollo, October 1990, p.233, pl.I). The putto to the right was modelled by Charles Peart (d.1798), who worked with Vulliamy from 1787. The figure reappears on a clock illustrated in T. Clifford, op. cit, p. 234, fig.11.
Both French and English suppliers were used by the Vulliamy firm. The ormolu eagle and this clock was supplied by a Mr. Barrow (see below), but is directly copied from a model by the French bronze manufacturing family of Delafontaine who provided bronze mounts and ornaments for the firm. A Delafontaine eagle on a clock supplied to the Prince of Wales is illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, 'The Vulliamys and France', F.H.S.J., 1967, pl.13A.