Details
A UNIQUE JADE PORTICO 'PENDULE À GRAVITÉ' CLOCK
BY MAURICE COÜET FOR CARTIER,PARIS, CIRCA 1927
In the form of a Shinto torii gate, the pillars and lintel of jade with gold and coral finials on base of blackened agate, the gilt watch movement no. 2191 within a black and coral enamel case marked MC for Maurice Coüet, numbered 2927, the bezel with diamont-set roman numerals at the quarter hours, the other hours marked with rose-cut diamond solitaires, the exhibition back revealing another carved jade tablet, in original fitted case
The gravity clock's motive force is derived from the weight of the clock itself falling along a rack and pinion device concealed in each jade column. To wind, the clock is raised by hand to the top of the portico. The power generated by the falling weight of the clock is conveyed to the clock mechanism within by means of a train of gears.
Maurice Coüet (1885-1963) was the technical genious responsible for the marvels of clockmaking produced in the Cartier workshop. Using the principles of the pendules mystérieuses of the Blois clockmaker Robert-Houdin (1805-1871), Coüet, at the age of 28, incorporated his own optically illusive device of a transparent clocks dial which trapped 'floating hands' in the first of his famous mystery clock', which he presented to Cartier in 1913. In the 1920s Coüet experimented with gravity clocks, which belonged to the same semi-mystërieuses group as his Chimaera and his Turtle clocks.
Using as his model a pendule à gravité by Grollier de Servie/geres (1593-1685), Coüet devised his own elegant use of the principles of gravity in the form of a 'pillar' clock. Two pillar clocks were made with Egyptian finials; this is the only one made using the form of a slender jade portico.
The virtuoso application of the lean, spare and rigid geometrical shapes that typified Cartier's revolutionary Art Deco jewelry is rarely evident in Cartier's clocks. Yet this piece examplifies the Cartier esthetic of the 1920s and 30s in its use of materials and startling color combinations inspired by Persian, Egyptian and Indian decorative arts. The central element of this portico clock is more like a Cartier brooch in its distinctively Cartier 'belt buckle' shape embellished with the animal and fruit motifs of classical Chinese art. That this exuberantly jewelled object de chinoiserie is fitted within the rather stark architectural form of a simple tourii shows precisely how Cartier designers and craftsmen were able to re-interpret and re-work widely divergent decorative influences into a wholly new and beautiful form that was entirely orginal.
BY MAURICE COÜET FOR CARTIER,PARIS, CIRCA 1927
In the form of a Shinto torii gate, the pillars and lintel of jade with gold and coral finials on base of blackened agate, the gilt watch movement no. 2191 within a black and coral enamel case marked MC for Maurice Coüet, numbered 2927, the bezel with diamont-set roman numerals at the quarter hours, the other hours marked with rose-cut diamond solitaires, the exhibition back revealing another carved jade tablet, in original fitted case
The gravity clock's motive force is derived from the weight of the clock itself falling along a rack and pinion device concealed in each jade column. To wind, the clock is raised by hand to the top of the portico. The power generated by the falling weight of the clock is conveyed to the clock mechanism within by means of a train of gears.
Maurice Coüet (1885-1963) was the technical genious responsible for the marvels of clockmaking produced in the Cartier workshop. Using the principles of the pendules mystérieuses of the Blois clockmaker Robert-Houdin (1805-1871), Coüet, at the age of 28, incorporated his own optically illusive device of a transparent clocks dial which trapped 'floating hands' in the first of his famous mystery clock', which he presented to Cartier in 1913. In the 1920s Coüet experimented with gravity clocks, which belonged to the same semi-mystërieuses group as his Chimaera and his Turtle clocks.
Using as his model a pendule à gravité by Grollier de Servie/geres (1593-1685), Coüet devised his own elegant use of the principles of gravity in the form of a 'pillar' clock. Two pillar clocks were made with Egyptian finials; this is the only one made using the form of a slender jade portico.
The virtuoso application of the lean, spare and rigid geometrical shapes that typified Cartier's revolutionary Art Deco jewelry is rarely evident in Cartier's clocks. Yet this piece examplifies the Cartier esthetic of the 1920s and 30s in its use of materials and startling color combinations inspired by Persian, Egyptian and Indian decorative arts. The central element of this portico clock is more like a Cartier brooch in its distinctively Cartier 'belt buckle' shape embellished with the animal and fruit motifs of classical Chinese art. That this exuberantly jewelled object de chinoiserie is fitted within the rather stark architectural form of a simple tourii shows precisely how Cartier designers and craftsmen were able to re-interpret and re-work widely divergent decorative influences into a wholly new and beautiful form that was entirely orginal.
Provenance
Sotheby's, Geneva, 1983