Lot Essay
The base upon which the buffalo stands is a model by the maître fondeur en terre et en sable Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain. St. Germain frequently supplied cases cast with animal forms and allegorical figures to the leading clockmakers of Paris, including the le Roy workshops, Etienne Lenoir and Jean-Philippe Gosselin. An example with rhinoceros support on this model of base was in the collection of Louise-Elisabeth, Princess of Parma (1727-59), 'Madame Infante', and is visible in the 1765 portrait of her by Laurent Pécheux (Metropolitan Museum, New York; J.-D. Augarde, 'Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain: Bronzier (1719 - 1791)', L'Estampille L'Objet d'Art, December 1996, pp. 63-82).