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Lot Essay
The C couronné poinçon was a tax mark used in France between March 1745 and February 1749 on any alloy containing copper.
Pierre II Le Roy, maître in 1721 or Pierre III Le Roy, maître in 1737.
Antoine-Nicolas Martinière, emailleur, appointed pensionnaire du Roi in 1746.
This superbly cast cartel clock has the rare feature of inset scarlet and gilt tole panels, which are signed by Delouvrage, presumably a specialist in lacquer wares who appears to be unrecorded. Interestingly, an examination of the interior reveals that the clock was originally conceived to have the more normal grille panels, but perhaps as a result of a special request from the client these were replaced by the more striking tole panels soon after the clock was made.
THE LE ROY DYNASTY OF HORLOGERS
Pierre II Le Roy was son of the master clockmaker of Tours, Pierre Julien le Roy, and was trained by his father before establishing his own workshop in Paris and receiving his maîtrise in 1721. Though his brother, Julien le Roy (1686-1759), was perhaps more famous as a clockmaker, Pierre is known to have been a member of the Société des Sciences where he presented a number of time-piece inventions. His clocks, always of excellent quality, were set in cases supplied by Paris' leading fondeurs and bronziers such as Jacques and Philippe Caffieri, Charles Cressent and J.J. de Saint-Germain. His clients included the Garde Meuble de la Couronne, the duchesse d'Halincourt, duchesse du Maine, Prince de Condé, comte de Charolais, and the Marchal-duc de Richelieu.
This clock movement could equally have been made by Pierre III Le Roy. The son of the renowned clockmaker Julien II Le Roy and nephew to the aforementioned Pierre II Le Roy, Pierre III succeeded his father in 1759 as the Horloger Ordinaire du Roi, in residence in the Louvre. One of the better educated and most able clockmakers of his day, Pierre III was widely praised for his invention of a marine chronometer - in recognition of this monumental accomplishement he was awarded the double prize of the académie des Sciences in 1769. The younger Le Roy counted both Louis XV and Louis XVI among his clientele, the latter of which awarded him an annual allowance of 1,200 livres in 1776.
ANTOINE-NICOLAS MARTINIERE (1706-1784)
An enameller and miniaturist, Martinière was named a pensionnaire du Roi in 1746 and is known to have established a workshop on the rue des Cinq-Diamants by 1741. Two signed works demonstrate his considerable talent. The first is an enamel now at Versailles, The Battle of Fontenoy, which is signed and dated 1747. The second is a signed, enamelled perpetual wall-calendar made for Louis XV in 1741-1742 and now in the Wallace Collection (F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, London, 1956, pp. 34-35, plate 1). He was the first to perfect a technique for making an enamel dial from a simple piece circa 1730/40 for which he was awarded a pension by Louis XV.
Pierre II Le Roy, maître in 1721 or Pierre III Le Roy, maître in 1737.
Antoine-Nicolas Martinière, emailleur, appointed pensionnaire du Roi in 1746.
This superbly cast cartel clock has the rare feature of inset scarlet and gilt tole panels, which are signed by Delouvrage, presumably a specialist in lacquer wares who appears to be unrecorded. Interestingly, an examination of the interior reveals that the clock was originally conceived to have the more normal grille panels, but perhaps as a result of a special request from the client these were replaced by the more striking tole panels soon after the clock was made.
THE LE ROY DYNASTY OF HORLOGERS
Pierre II Le Roy was son of the master clockmaker of Tours, Pierre Julien le Roy, and was trained by his father before establishing his own workshop in Paris and receiving his maîtrise in 1721. Though his brother, Julien le Roy (1686-1759), was perhaps more famous as a clockmaker, Pierre is known to have been a member of the Société des Sciences where he presented a number of time-piece inventions. His clocks, always of excellent quality, were set in cases supplied by Paris' leading fondeurs and bronziers such as Jacques and Philippe Caffieri, Charles Cressent and J.J. de Saint-Germain. His clients included the Garde Meuble de la Couronne, the duchesse d'Halincourt, duchesse du Maine, Prince de Condé, comte de Charolais, and the Marchal-duc de Richelieu.
This clock movement could equally have been made by Pierre III Le Roy. The son of the renowned clockmaker Julien II Le Roy and nephew to the aforementioned Pierre II Le Roy, Pierre III succeeded his father in 1759 as the Horloger Ordinaire du Roi, in residence in the Louvre. One of the better educated and most able clockmakers of his day, Pierre III was widely praised for his invention of a marine chronometer - in recognition of this monumental accomplishement he was awarded the double prize of the académie des Sciences in 1769. The younger Le Roy counted both Louis XV and Louis XVI among his clientele, the latter of which awarded him an annual allowance of 1,200 livres in 1776.
ANTOINE-NICOLAS MARTINIERE (1706-1784)
An enameller and miniaturist, Martinière was named a pensionnaire du Roi in 1746 and is known to have established a workshop on the rue des Cinq-Diamants by 1741. Two signed works demonstrate his considerable talent. The first is an enamel now at Versailles, The Battle of Fontenoy, which is signed and dated 1747. The second is a signed, enamelled perpetual wall-calendar made for Louis XV in 1741-1742 and now in the Wallace Collection (F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, London, 1956, pp. 34-35, plate 1). He was the first to perfect a technique for making an enamel dial from a simple piece circa 1730/40 for which he was awarded a pension by Louis XV.