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Lot Essay
Jean-Louis Montjoye, eldest son of Paris clockmaker Louis Montjoye, is recorded with his father in 1772; and as pendulier in Rue St-Julien-le-Pauvre in 1781.
This model of clock depicting a dromedary supporting a clock drum and surmounted by a figure of Africa is an extremely rare survival of 18th century exoticism. Curiosity and fascination with faraway lands and their fauna was fueled by a visit from the ambassadors of the king of Siam, who in 1686 brought a group of animals including an elephant, lion, tiger, ostrich, bear and camel and other zoological "phenomenons" as a gift to Louis XIV. Images of these fascinating creatures made their way into the decorative arts, including the tapestries of the period, and of course, clocks. While clocks incorporating figures of rhinoceros, elephants, bulls and lions are well represented, far fewer examples of clocks with dromedaries or camels exist. One other 18th century model of dromedary clock is known, of a more rocaille design, of which numerous examples exist, including that in the musée du Louvre, illustrated in D. Alcouffe, et. al., Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, p. 75, pl. 32. It is possible that the present example is that which was exhibited in in 1993 at the musée Bellevue, Brussels with the Duesberg collection which Pierre Kjellberg describes as, "Un modèle plus rare sinon unique, mais de la fin de l'epoque Louis XV...L'animal-- il s'agit cette fois d'un chameau--se tient fièrement debout et porte le mouvement sur son dos, ou plutôt sur ses deux bosses. Il est guidé par un jeune "Indien" perché au-dessus du cadran" (Encyclopédie de La Pendule Française du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 134).
This model of clock depicting a dromedary supporting a clock drum and surmounted by a figure of Africa is an extremely rare survival of 18th century exoticism. Curiosity and fascination with faraway lands and their fauna was fueled by a visit from the ambassadors of the king of Siam, who in 1686 brought a group of animals including an elephant, lion, tiger, ostrich, bear and camel and other zoological "phenomenons" as a gift to Louis XIV. Images of these fascinating creatures made their way into the decorative arts, including the tapestries of the period, and of course, clocks. While clocks incorporating figures of rhinoceros, elephants, bulls and lions are well represented, far fewer examples of clocks with dromedaries or camels exist. One other 18th century model of dromedary clock is known, of a more rocaille design, of which numerous examples exist, including that in the musée du Louvre, illustrated in D. Alcouffe, et. al., Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, p. 75, pl. 32. It is possible that the present example is that which was exhibited in in 1993 at the musée Bellevue, Brussels with the Duesberg collection which Pierre Kjellberg describes as, "Un modèle plus rare sinon unique, mais de la fin de l'epoque Louis XV...L'animal-- il s'agit cette fois d'un chameau--se tient fièrement debout et porte le mouvement sur son dos, ou plutôt sur ses deux bosses. Il est guidé par un jeune "Indien" perché au-dessus du cadran" (Encyclopédie de La Pendule Française du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 134).