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Lot Essay
This clock and pedestal incorporate ormolu mounts also found on the well known desk surmounted by a clock made for Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria (1662-1726). These include the espagnolettes mounted at the corners of the pedestals, the half-figures at the corners of the clock case, and the figure of Victory, forming the finial. Long attributed to André-Charles Boulle, recent research by Jean-Nérée Ronfort and Jean-Dominique Augarde ('Le Maître du Bureau de l'Electeur,' January 1993, L'Estampille/L'Objet d'Art, no. 243, January 1991, no,· 243, Objet d'Art, pp. 42-75) has demonstrated that the desk, as well as a group of furniture inlaid with similar marquetry and bearing identical mounts, is the work of another ébéniste, possibly Bernard I Van Risenburgh.
The clock and pedestal are of particular importance because they belong to a smaller sub group of furniture which forms the 'missing link' between the earliest productions of the workshop (c. 1695) and those more closely related to the Elector's desk (after c. 1715). At least two other examples of the clock and pedestal are know to exist, one in contre partie from the collection of the Marquess of Linlithgow (sold Christie's London, 12 July 1963, lot 134 and offered Christie's Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 65). Another pedestal was also sold, Palais d'Orsay, 21 February 1978, lot 74. All these pedestals are inlaid with identical Berainesque marquetry characteristic of the group as a whole. The motifs of strapwork and leafy scrolls inhabited by exotic birds and animals amid canopies, urns and masks is found throughout the series. The upper third of each pedestal is decorated with marquetry identical to the door panel of a clock with movement by Thuret in the Wallace collection. Similarly the canopies, figures and birds found on the contre partie bureaux and tables of the earlier productions from the workshop are found in related configurations on the pedestal.
The clock and pedestal are of particular importance because they belong to a smaller sub group of furniture which forms the 'missing link' between the earliest productions of the workshop (c. 1695) and those more closely related to the Elector's desk (after c. 1715). At least two other examples of the clock and pedestal are know to exist, one in contre partie from the collection of the Marquess of Linlithgow (sold Christie's London, 12 July 1963, lot 134 and offered Christie's Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 65). Another pedestal was also sold, Palais d'Orsay, 21 February 1978, lot 74. All these pedestals are inlaid with identical Berainesque marquetry characteristic of the group as a whole. The motifs of strapwork and leafy scrolls inhabited by exotic birds and animals amid canopies, urns and masks is found throughout the series. The upper third of each pedestal is decorated with marquetry identical to the door panel of a clock with movement by Thuret in the Wallace collection. Similarly the canopies, figures and birds found on the contre partie bureaux and tables of the earlier productions from the workshop are found in related configurations on the pedestal.