Lot Essay
Joseph-Lonard Roque, matre in 1770
Roque was apprenticed to the mechanical expert Alexis Magny and later the celebrated horloger Claude-Simon Passement, creating the movements for the 'Creation of the World' Clock delivered by Passement to Louis XV in 1754, and also the pair of globes supplied to the marquis de Marigny, who later presented them to the King.
After achieving his matrise, Roque specialized in the production of luxury clocks, employing bronziers such as Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain and Franois Vion for his cases and Franois Rmond as a gilder. His clients included Louis XV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and Mesdames Victoire and Adelide, the daughters of Louis XV, as well as collectors such as the duc de Polignac and M. Beaujon.
A design for a mantel clock of this form, dating circa 1780, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Prschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 198 6, vol. 1, p. 253, fig. 4.6.29). Twin obelisks suspending a drum-form clock case were a particularly popular form of mantel clock during the last half of the 18th century. See, for example, two such marble mantel clocks with ormolu military trophy mounts illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopdie de la Pendule Francaise du Moyen Age au XXe Sicle, Paris, 1997, p. 205-206, figs. D & G. From this, it appears that some of the earliest examples were made of marble, though the present clock, made of porcelain, represents a popular alternative.
Roque was apprenticed to the mechanical expert Alexis Magny and later the celebrated horloger Claude-Simon Passement, creating the movements for the 'Creation of the World' Clock delivered by Passement to Louis XV in 1754, and also the pair of globes supplied to the marquis de Marigny, who later presented them to the King.
After achieving his matrise, Roque specialized in the production of luxury clocks, employing bronziers such as Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain and Franois Vion for his cases and Franois Rmond as a gilder. His clients included Louis XV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and Mesdames Victoire and Adelide, the daughters of Louis XV, as well as collectors such as the duc de Polignac and M. Beaujon.
A design for a mantel clock of this form, dating circa 1780, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Prschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 198 6, vol. 1, p. 253, fig. 4.6.29). Twin obelisks suspending a drum-form clock case were a particularly popular form of mantel clock during the last half of the 18th century. See, for example, two such marble mantel clocks with ormolu military trophy mounts illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopdie de la Pendule Francaise du Moyen Age au XXe Sicle, Paris, 1997, p. 205-206, figs. D & G. From this, it appears that some of the earliest examples were made of marble, though the present clock, made of porcelain, represents a popular alternative.