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Lot Essay
The superb onyx and champlevé enamel clock garniture, inspired by le gôut grec fashionable in Louis XVI’s reign, is testament to the successful collaboration between Maison Barbedienne and G. Servant. The history of Barbedienne is well-known, however, while G. Servant was esteemed in the period, his name is less recognisable today. By 1887, Paris-based Maison Servant was established at 137, rue Vieille-du-Temple. Specialising in Egyptian and Greek-revival pieces, the firm was principally a fabricant de bronzes employing sculptors, ciseleurs, doreur décorateurs, and importantly it was an emailleur. The Bulletin de l’Union Centrale described the firm’s production as, '[a] Grand choix de modèles varies d’une parfait composition et d’une execution remarquable’ (No. 24, 1er Août 1876, p. 241). With respect to the present garniture, it seems likely that while Maison Servant was the manufacturer, Barbedienne, the larger of the two firms, acted as the retailer. This may explain why the clock case is signed 'Servant’, and one of the candelabra 'Barbedienne’.
Maison Servant was a medallist at the major international exhibitions between 1867 and 1887. In 1867, they exhibited at the Paris Exposition, and their display is discussed in both Jules Mesnard's, Les Merveilles de l'Exposition de 1867, Paris, 1867, pp. 167-168, and The Art Journal Catalogue of the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867, London, 1867, p. 20. In 1878 at the Paris Expositon, G. Servant was a member of the jury for les bronzes d’art. The firm was also an exhibitor presenting a Louis XVI-style jardinière with a central band 'enamelled in tints’, and a neo-classical table supported by four figures of flute musicians (The Art Journal, 1878, p. 64). In 1880, G. Servant wrote a report on the bronze section of the 1878 Exposition with a section dedicated to the art of enamelling. In this he emphasized the important contribution that the 'grand industriel M. Barbedienne’ had made to the art of enamelling (p. 13).
A related clock garniture of a broadly similar design in opaque champlevé enamel on gilt-bronze, was commissioned from Barbedienne by Herter Brothers for William H. Vanderbilt’s Fifth Avenue mansion, and is today in the Khalili Collection (see H. Williams, Enamels of the World 1700-2000, The Khalili Collections, 2009, p. 73).
Maison Servant was a medallist at the major international exhibitions between 1867 and 1887. In 1867, they exhibited at the Paris Exposition, and their display is discussed in both Jules Mesnard's, Les Merveilles de l'Exposition de 1867, Paris, 1867, pp. 167-168, and The Art Journal Catalogue of the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867, London, 1867, p. 20. In 1878 at the Paris Expositon, G. Servant was a member of the jury for les bronzes d’art. The firm was also an exhibitor presenting a Louis XVI-style jardinière with a central band 'enamelled in tints’, and a neo-classical table supported by four figures of flute musicians (The Art Journal, 1878, p. 64). In 1880, G. Servant wrote a report on the bronze section of the 1878 Exposition with a section dedicated to the art of enamelling. In this he emphasized the important contribution that the 'grand industriel M. Barbedienne’ had made to the art of enamelling (p. 13).
A related clock garniture of a broadly similar design in opaque champlevé enamel on gilt-bronze, was commissioned from Barbedienne by Herter Brothers for William H. Vanderbilt’s Fifth Avenue mansion, and is today in the Khalili Collection (see H. Williams, Enamels of the World 1700-2000, The Khalili Collections, 2009, p. 73).