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Lot Essay
In the catalogue drawn up by Pierre Rmy in 1768 of the collection of Monsieur Gaignat, 'ancien Secrtaire du Roi, & Receveur des Consignations', no.188 was described as :-
-Une trs belle et grande pendule....orne de plusieurs figures de cuivre reprsentant des magots vernis par Martin, imitant le laque; ils sont richement habills et ouvrags de divers ors, sur une trasse dont partie en roche et partie dore et dcore de feuillages et de fleurs de Vincennes.
Published in Paris, what makes this catalogue so historically important is the existence of Saint-Aubin's own illustrated copy. The catalogue also carried the following introductory sentence on the frontispiece:- ET celui des Porcelaines rares & anciennes, tant du Japon que de la Chine, de Saxe & de France; Effets de Laques, Meubles prcieux & Bijoux, par S. Ph. POIRIER, Marchand'. In view of what may, therefore, have been an existing relationship between Gaignat and the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, it seems a possiblity that the Gaignat clock could have been supplied by the latter, who incorporated lacquer figures executed by the vernisseurs Martin frres.
Deliberately decorated to resemble the finest and most expensive 17th century Japanese lacquer, the production of lacquered-bronze figures reflects arguably one of the most sophisticated phases of the 'got Chinois'. Traditionally, such lacquered-bronze figures have been associated almost exclusively with the Martin dynasty, both as a result of contemporary documentary references - such as the 1753 reference in the Inventory of the comtesse de Mailly - as well as the fact that they were granted a Royal Patent to protect the vernis technique which they had invented. This latter patent was further enhanced in 1744 by a renewed one for lacquer wares en relief dans le got du Japon et de la Chine', and by 1748 they had opened the manufacture Royale de vernis de la chine. C. Sargentson in Merchants and Luxury Markets: The Marchands Merciers of Eighteenth Century Paris, London, 1996, however, has convincingly argued that there must have been a number of unknown craftsmen supplying such figures to the marchands-mercier, and indeed Parisian almanachs of the period often list several specialists in 'vernis'. Moreover, Jean-Flix Watin, in his Le Peintre Doreur et Vernisseur of 1772, stated that ten different recipes for lacquer were being employed in Paris at that time, as well as going on to say that by the 1740s the Martin family was suffering from widespread competition, which had inevitably resulted in the prices for lacquer wares being forced down.
This exact model, perhaps slightly earlier in date if one considers the almost Rgence ornament of the bezel, is apparently unrecorded elsewhere, and may have been supplied as a special commission. A further model, of slightly more full-blown Louis XV design and with plain bezel, includes that sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 14 October 1988, lot 16; that from a garniture sold in the Jaime Ortiz-Patio sale, Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 7, as well as that offered from the Estate of Giusseppe Rossi, Sotheby's London, 11 March 1999, lot 755. Two further models, dated to circa 1760, are discussed in Partridge Fine Arts, Recent Acquisitions, 1998, no.45, p.113, and Christie's Review of the Year 1960-61, London, p. 76, the dial signed by Benost Grard.
A similar clock of larger size with three figures and movement by Julien le Roy (d. 1759), flanked by matching two-light candelabra forming a garniture and still retained in the Residenz, Munich, is illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dors Franais, Paris, 1987, p.21, no.7.
A facsimile copy of St. Aubin's Gaignat sale catalogue is lot 312.
-Une trs belle et grande pendule....orne de plusieurs figures de cuivre reprsentant des magots vernis par Martin, imitant le laque; ils sont richement habills et ouvrags de divers ors, sur une trasse dont partie en roche et partie dore et dcore de feuillages et de fleurs de Vincennes.
Published in Paris, what makes this catalogue so historically important is the existence of Saint-Aubin's own illustrated copy. The catalogue also carried the following introductory sentence on the frontispiece:- ET celui des Porcelaines rares & anciennes, tant du Japon que de la Chine, de Saxe & de France; Effets de Laques, Meubles prcieux & Bijoux, par S. Ph. POIRIER, Marchand'. In view of what may, therefore, have been an existing relationship between Gaignat and the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, it seems a possiblity that the Gaignat clock could have been supplied by the latter, who incorporated lacquer figures executed by the vernisseurs Martin frres.
Deliberately decorated to resemble the finest and most expensive 17th century Japanese lacquer, the production of lacquered-bronze figures reflects arguably one of the most sophisticated phases of the 'got Chinois'. Traditionally, such lacquered-bronze figures have been associated almost exclusively with the Martin dynasty, both as a result of contemporary documentary references - such as the 1753 reference in the Inventory of the comtesse de Mailly - as well as the fact that they were granted a Royal Patent to protect the vernis technique which they had invented. This latter patent was further enhanced in 1744 by a renewed one for lacquer wares en relief dans le got du Japon et de la Chine', and by 1748 they had opened the manufacture Royale de vernis de la chine. C. Sargentson in Merchants and Luxury Markets: The Marchands Merciers of Eighteenth Century Paris, London, 1996, however, has convincingly argued that there must have been a number of unknown craftsmen supplying such figures to the marchands-mercier, and indeed Parisian almanachs of the period often list several specialists in 'vernis'. Moreover, Jean-Flix Watin, in his Le Peintre Doreur et Vernisseur of 1772, stated that ten different recipes for lacquer were being employed in Paris at that time, as well as going on to say that by the 1740s the Martin family was suffering from widespread competition, which had inevitably resulted in the prices for lacquer wares being forced down.
This exact model, perhaps slightly earlier in date if one considers the almost Rgence ornament of the bezel, is apparently unrecorded elsewhere, and may have been supplied as a special commission. A further model, of slightly more full-blown Louis XV design and with plain bezel, includes that sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 14 October 1988, lot 16; that from a garniture sold in the Jaime Ortiz-Patio sale, Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 7, as well as that offered from the Estate of Giusseppe Rossi, Sotheby's London, 11 March 1999, lot 755. Two further models, dated to circa 1760, are discussed in Partridge Fine Arts, Recent Acquisitions, 1998, no.45, p.113, and Christie's Review of the Year 1960-61, London, p. 76, the dial signed by Benost Grard.
A similar clock of larger size with three figures and movement by Julien le Roy (d. 1759), flanked by matching two-light candelabra forming a garniture and still retained in the Residenz, Munich, is illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dors Franais, Paris, 1987, p.21, no.7.
A facsimile copy of St. Aubin's Gaignat sale catalogue is lot 312.