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Lot Essay
François Rémond, maître doreur in 1744.
Charles-Guillaume Maniere, maître horloger in 1778.
This impressive, sculptural clock is a splendid representative of the fascinating moment in the history of Parisian decorative arts of the years immediately following the French Revolution. At that time, very few patrons in France itself were able to place large commissions, but orders from England, Russia, Madrid, Brussels and elsewhere ensured the survival of many of the foremost luxury industries in Paris.
THE ATTRIBUTION TO RÉMOND
The clock case is closely related to another model, created by the prominent bronzier Rémond, which has two standing rather than seated female figures, supporting a drapery in very similar fashion; the clock case proper, crowned by a pediment, is borne by these figures, again in a closely comparable manner. For the women's faces and raised arms, the same models may actually have been used as for the figures on the present case. An example of the model with standing women, also with a movement by Manière, was sold in these rooms, 7 December 1978, Lot 34, and again, Christie's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, Lot 619. Its genesis can be traced in detail from Rémond's sales' registers. In 1785, Rémond first produced, probably to the order of the Duc de Penthièvre, a pair of candelabra held aloft by these same figures; soon after, another pair was probably delivered by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre to Princesse Kinsky for her hôtel in the Rue St. Dominique. The candelabra enjoyed considerable succes, and in 1790 Rémond employed the same female figures on the clock case, which must have met with equal acclaim (C. Baulez, 'La luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Estampille/l'Objet d'art 247 (May 1991), p. 88, figs. 1-3).
It stands to reason that the present clock case, so clearly dependent on the model developed by Rémond in 1790, was created by him around the same time. Apart from the similarities noted already, the feet on which the marble bases rest are of the same type. Significantly, the movements of most of the known examples with standing women are by Manière, as is that of the present clock and of another of the same model, with the addition of a child on top and a palmette frieze on the base (sold, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, Lot 686). In the 1790s, Charles-Guillaume Manière must have been the horloger favoured by Daguerre, as is apparent from the probate inventory made up after his death in 1796, in which several clocks with movements by this maker figure (partly transcribed in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris 1983, pp. 162-167). At the time of his death, Daguerre owed Manière 180 livres. Undoubtedly, many of the mantel clocks produced by Rémond in the 1790s and containing movements by Manière, were sold by the famous marchand-mercier.
FRANÇOIS RÉMOND
Relatively unknown until recently, the discovery of Rémond's sales' register, and further research into his life, has established his reputation as probably the most successful bronzier in Paris in the 1780s and early 1790s. Much employed by Daguerre, he was responsible, or partly responsible, for the mounts of some of the most celebrated pieces of furniture created in those years, such as the lacquer-mounted toilet table by Weisweiler, delivered to Marie-Antoinette by Daguerre in 1784 and now in the Louvre, Riesener's marquetry dressing table made for the Queen at the Petit Trianon and now at Waddesdon Manor, and some of David Roentgen's most sumptuous works produced for the Russian court (C. Baulez, ''Toute l'Europe tire ses bronzes de Paris'', in: exh. cat. Bernard Molitor 1755-1833, Ébéniste parisien d'origine luxembourgeoise, Luxemburg (Villa Vauban) 1995, pp. 81-88, Figs. 1-6).
Charles-Guillaume Maniere, maître horloger in 1778.
This impressive, sculptural clock is a splendid representative of the fascinating moment in the history of Parisian decorative arts of the years immediately following the French Revolution. At that time, very few patrons in France itself were able to place large commissions, but orders from England, Russia, Madrid, Brussels and elsewhere ensured the survival of many of the foremost luxury industries in Paris.
THE ATTRIBUTION TO RÉMOND
The clock case is closely related to another model, created by the prominent bronzier Rémond, which has two standing rather than seated female figures, supporting a drapery in very similar fashion; the clock case proper, crowned by a pediment, is borne by these figures, again in a closely comparable manner. For the women's faces and raised arms, the same models may actually have been used as for the figures on the present case. An example of the model with standing women, also with a movement by Manière, was sold in these rooms, 7 December 1978, Lot 34, and again, Christie's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, Lot 619. Its genesis can be traced in detail from Rémond's sales' registers. In 1785, Rémond first produced, probably to the order of the Duc de Penthièvre, a pair of candelabra held aloft by these same figures; soon after, another pair was probably delivered by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre to Princesse Kinsky for her hôtel in the Rue St. Dominique. The candelabra enjoyed considerable succes, and in 1790 Rémond employed the same female figures on the clock case, which must have met with equal acclaim (C. Baulez, 'La luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Estampille/l'Objet d'art 247 (May 1991), p. 88, figs. 1-3).
It stands to reason that the present clock case, so clearly dependent on the model developed by Rémond in 1790, was created by him around the same time. Apart from the similarities noted already, the feet on which the marble bases rest are of the same type. Significantly, the movements of most of the known examples with standing women are by Manière, as is that of the present clock and of another of the same model, with the addition of a child on top and a palmette frieze on the base (sold, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, Lot 686). In the 1790s, Charles-Guillaume Manière must have been the horloger favoured by Daguerre, as is apparent from the probate inventory made up after his death in 1796, in which several clocks with movements by this maker figure (partly transcribed in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris 1983, pp. 162-167). At the time of his death, Daguerre owed Manière 180 livres. Undoubtedly, many of the mantel clocks produced by Rémond in the 1790s and containing movements by Manière, were sold by the famous marchand-mercier.
FRANÇOIS RÉMOND
Relatively unknown until recently, the discovery of Rémond's sales' register, and further research into his life, has established his reputation as probably the most successful bronzier in Paris in the 1780s and early 1790s. Much employed by Daguerre, he was responsible, or partly responsible, for the mounts of some of the most celebrated pieces of furniture created in those years, such as the lacquer-mounted toilet table by Weisweiler, delivered to Marie-Antoinette by Daguerre in 1784 and now in the Louvre, Riesener's marquetry dressing table made for the Queen at the Petit Trianon and now at Waddesdon Manor, and some of David Roentgen's most sumptuous works produced for the Russian court (C. Baulez, ''Toute l'Europe tire ses bronzes de Paris'', in: exh. cat. Bernard Molitor 1755-1833, Ébéniste parisien d'origine luxembourgeoise, Luxemburg (Villa Vauban) 1995, pp. 81-88, Figs. 1-6).