Lot Essay
François-Louis Godon, maître in 1787, active in the Rue de Valois-St-Honoré
Francois-Louis Godon, horloger du Roi to Carlos III and Carlos IV of Spain, worked almost exclusively for the Spanish Court. Remaining in Paris, he worked in partnership with the celebrated horloger ordinaire du Roi Louis XVI Jean-Baptiste André Furet. Two table clocks suplied to the Throne Room in the Royal Palace in Madrid represent the fruition of their collaborations (S. Junquera, 'A Palaceful of Clocks', Apollo, May 1969, pp. 370-379, fig. 3-4)
The design of the case echoes the decorative motifs employed on a pair of chenets, also adorned with goats, attributed either to Pierre Gouthière or Pierre-Philippe Thomire and delivered to the château de Versailles in 1793. They are now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (W. Garrett, 'French Decorative Arts in America', Antiques, vol. CXXXV, pp. 705-7, March 1989)
A mantel clock of identical design, except for the porcelain plaque which is replaced by further gilt-bronze foliate arabesques, is in the Frick Collection, New York, 1982, no. 92, pp. 100-1). Another was recorded in the collection of the Tsar of Russia, and was exhibited in Berlin in 1928 (H. Ottomeyer, P. Proschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Band I, p. 280, 4.13.2). A further example, the movement by Lépine, was acquired by Lord Palmerston in 1791 from the marchand-mercier Daguerre for #41.16 shillings and remains at Broadlands, Hampshire (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 349, fig. 368)
A similar clock from the collection of Frederick Behrens, Esq., was sold in these Rooms 16 July 1933, lot 51, while another was sold anonymously at Christie's New York, 1 November 1990, lot 78
Francois-Louis Godon, horloger du Roi to Carlos III and Carlos IV of Spain, worked almost exclusively for the Spanish Court. Remaining in Paris, he worked in partnership with the celebrated horloger ordinaire du Roi Louis XVI Jean-Baptiste André Furet. Two table clocks suplied to the Throne Room in the Royal Palace in Madrid represent the fruition of their collaborations (S. Junquera, 'A Palaceful of Clocks', Apollo, May 1969, pp. 370-379, fig. 3-4)
The design of the case echoes the decorative motifs employed on a pair of chenets, also adorned with goats, attributed either to Pierre Gouthière or Pierre-Philippe Thomire and delivered to the château de Versailles in 1793. They are now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (W. Garrett, 'French Decorative Arts in America', Antiques, vol. CXXXV, pp. 705-7, March 1989)
A mantel clock of identical design, except for the porcelain plaque which is replaced by further gilt-bronze foliate arabesques, is in the Frick Collection, New York, 1982, no. 92, pp. 100-1). Another was recorded in the collection of the Tsar of Russia, and was exhibited in Berlin in 1928 (H. Ottomeyer, P. Proschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Band I, p. 280, 4.13.2). A further example, the movement by Lépine, was acquired by Lord Palmerston in 1791 from the marchand-mercier Daguerre for #41.16 shillings and remains at Broadlands, Hampshire (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 349, fig. 368)
A similar clock from the collection of Frederick Behrens, Esq., was sold in these Rooms 16 July 1933, lot 51, while another was sold anonymously at Christie's New York, 1 November 1990, lot 78