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Lot Essay
Gaston Jolly recorded at Rue Pave St. Sauveur, 1810-20.
This clock relates closely to a model supplied by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) to Napoleon in 1802. The design is based on Paul et Virginie, the celebrated love story by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre of 1788, which is set on the island of Mauritius between 1735 and 1762. Napoleon was a great admirer of the story and commissioned Thomire to execute a clock with this subject, which he intended to give to the author (see E. Niehüser, French Bronze Clocks, 1700-1830, Munich, 1999, pp. 151-152, figs. 246-247 and P. Kjellberg, La Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 358, fig. c).
Clocks of this model have been sold anonymously at Christie's Monaco, 16 June 1990, lot 210 (FF 200,000), Christie's, New York, 1 November 1990, lot 50 ($38,500) and a larger version in these Rooms, 5 July 2001, lot 235 (£115,000).
This clock relates closely to a model supplied by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) to Napoleon in 1802. The design is based on Paul et Virginie, the celebrated love story by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre of 1788, which is set on the island of Mauritius between 1735 and 1762. Napoleon was a great admirer of the story and commissioned Thomire to execute a clock with this subject, which he intended to give to the author (see E. Niehüser, French Bronze Clocks, 1700-1830, Munich, 1999, pp. 151-152, figs. 246-247 and P. Kjellberg, La Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 358, fig. c).
Clocks of this model have been sold anonymously at Christie's Monaco, 16 June 1990, lot 210 (FF 200,000), Christie's, New York, 1 November 1990, lot 50 ($38,500) and a larger version in these Rooms, 5 July 2001, lot 235 (£115,000).