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Lot Essay
This sumptuous objet de luxe bears the cypher of Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793). Close examination of this when dismantled reveals exceptional ciselure and richness of gilding, and both the fleur-de-lys which ornament the socle and the metal onto which the blue enamel ground of the cypher has been executed are silver. This level of extravagance would clearly suggest either a royal or a diplomatic presentation piece. It is possible that this beautiful object was intended as a gift for an important Russian; indeed, that the Russians had a taste for such jewelled objets d'art is demonstrated by the success enjoyed by the Tula factory under Catherine the Great. Inspired in form by the goût grecque of the 1760s and 1770s, the unusual use of ormolu 'jewelled' with pastes brilliantes is scarcely documented in Parisian ateliers.
Such jewelled objects seem to have been particularly admired by the Rothschilds in the 19th Century, and these include a clock designed by François Vion, together with a pair of candlesticks en suite, from the collection of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild (sold by Mrs. Goldberg, Christie's London, 22 June 1989, lots 19-20), and a further clock formerly owned by Alfred de Rothschild at Halton Place in Buckinghamshire, subsequently in the Coke Collection at Jenkyn Place (sold Christie's London, 17 October 1996, lot 151). Further examples of paste-mounted ormolu include a Louis XVI easel-mirror (illustrated in D. Alcouffe et al., La Folie d'Artois, Paris, 1988, p. 191); a clock garniture from the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur collection (sold at Christie's New York, 14 October 1994, lot 255); and a pair of late 18th century mirrors attributed to a Viennese workshop (ibid, p. 196).
Such jewelled objects seem to have been particularly admired by the Rothschilds in the 19th Century, and these include a clock designed by François Vion, together with a pair of candlesticks en suite, from the collection of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild (sold by Mrs. Goldberg, Christie's London, 22 June 1989, lots 19-20), and a further clock formerly owned by Alfred de Rothschild at Halton Place in Buckinghamshire, subsequently in the Coke Collection at Jenkyn Place (sold Christie's London, 17 October 1996, lot 151). Further examples of paste-mounted ormolu include a Louis XVI easel-mirror (illustrated in D. Alcouffe et al., La Folie d'Artois, Paris, 1988, p. 191); a clock garniture from the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur collection (sold at Christie's New York, 14 October 1994, lot 255); and a pair of late 18th century mirrors attributed to a Viennese workshop (ibid, p. 196).