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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
H.M. Vehmeyer, Clocks, Their Origin and Development 1320-1880, Vol.I, Gent, 2004, pp.338-341
Dr R Plomp, Spring-driven Dutch Pendulum Clocks 1657-1710, Schiedam, 1979, pp.139-140, fig.55
Van den Ende, van Kersen, van Kersen-Halbertsma, Taylor & Taylor, Huygens' Legacy, The Golden Age of the Pendulum Clock, Frome, 2004, pp.190-193 and pp.276-277
Simon Lachez (1648-1723) was the son of a French soldier, Simon de la Sus. He grew up in an almshouse and was apprenticed in 1661 to the Utrecht clockmaker Egbert Jan van Leeuwaerden. He became a citizen of the city in 1674, also becoming a Master clockmaker and a Member of the Blacksmiths' Company (of which he was deacon 1702-1704). He retired in 1716, passing on his business to his son Isaac.
A clock by Simon Lachez was sold Sotheby's Amsterdam, Clocks, Watches and Wristwatches, 7 December 2004, lot 204.
Most known clocks by Simon Lachez demonstrate a strong English influence. Picking up the present clock one is immediately struck by its weight, which is noticeably greater than most 'Hague' clocks as a consequence of its twin fusees movement. Other recorded clocks by Lachez also have this feature, unusual on Dutch clocks of the period, athough one (see Plomp p.139 and Vehmeyer pp.338-339) has the more customary spring barrels arrangement. That clock is apparently earlier, dating from the first years of Lachez's Utrecht citizenship, suggesting that he changed his thinking as he developed as a clockmaker.
H.M. Vehmeyer, Clocks, Their Origin and Development 1320-1880, Vol.I, Gent, 2004, pp.338-341
Dr R Plomp, Spring-driven Dutch Pendulum Clocks 1657-1710, Schiedam, 1979, pp.139-140, fig.55
Van den Ende, van Kersen, van Kersen-Halbertsma, Taylor & Taylor, Huygens' Legacy, The Golden Age of the Pendulum Clock, Frome, 2004, pp.190-193 and pp.276-277
Simon Lachez (1648-1723) was the son of a French soldier, Simon de la Sus. He grew up in an almshouse and was apprenticed in 1661 to the Utrecht clockmaker Egbert Jan van Leeuwaerden. He became a citizen of the city in 1674, also becoming a Master clockmaker and a Member of the Blacksmiths' Company (of which he was deacon 1702-1704). He retired in 1716, passing on his business to his son Isaac.
A clock by Simon Lachez was sold Sotheby's Amsterdam, Clocks, Watches and Wristwatches, 7 December 2004, lot 204.
Most known clocks by Simon Lachez demonstrate a strong English influence. Picking up the present clock one is immediately struck by its weight, which is noticeably greater than most 'Hague' clocks as a consequence of its twin fusees movement. Other recorded clocks by Lachez also have this feature, unusual on Dutch clocks of the period, athough one (see Plomp p.139 and Vehmeyer pp.338-339) has the more customary spring barrels arrangement. That clock is apparently earlier, dating from the first years of Lachez's Utrecht citizenship, suggesting that he changed his thinking as he developed as a clockmaker.