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Lot Essay
This figural clock surmounted by Jupiter's eagle above an oak-festooned Grecian 'cippus' altar and attended by book-reading nymphs emblematic of study is conceived in the French 'antique' manner introduced by the marchand mercier Dominique Daguerre and popularized by Benjamin Vulliamy (d.1811), Royal clockmaker to George III and his son the Prince of Wales, later George IV. In 1788, Daguerre delivered two such clocks to Louis XVI for the Chateau de St.Cloud to this design. Another was sold from Hackwood Park, Hampshire, Christie's on the Premises, 20-22 April 1998, lot 77.
The inscription 'Pensae Auxilium' appears on a related marble clock bearing the name of clockmaker/jeweller Thomas Weeks (d.1834) of the 'Royal Mechanical Museum', sold Christie's London, 8 July 1993, lot 5. Another related marble clock, with Pan-masked plinth bears the signature of Pergal & Duterrau of Bond Street, sold Christie's South Kensington, 31 March 1993, lot 33. The Pan mask also features on a closely related bronze clock that bears Baetens' inscription (advertised by Asprey, The Connoisseur, September 1976). F.J. Baetens is recorded as a 'bronze or-moulu manufacturer' trading at 23 Gerard Street in Kent's London Directory of 1820.
The inscription 'Pensae Auxilium' appears on a related marble clock bearing the name of clockmaker/jeweller Thomas Weeks (d.1834) of the 'Royal Mechanical Museum', sold Christie's London, 8 July 1993, lot 5. Another related marble clock, with Pan-masked plinth bears the signature of Pergal & Duterrau of Bond Street, sold Christie's South Kensington, 31 March 1993, lot 33. The Pan mask also features on a closely related bronze clock that bears Baetens' inscription (advertised by Asprey, The Connoisseur, September 1976). F.J. Baetens is recorded as a 'bronze or-moulu manufacturer' trading at 23 Gerard Street in Kent's London Directory of 1820.