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拍品專文
Made to commemorate the life of President George Washington, this mantle clock is among a group of approximately thirty surviving examples made in Paris for the American market during the early nineteenth century. The clocks were made in two sizes - the smaller standing 15 inches tall, as seen on the lot offered here, and the larger standing 19-20 inches tall, as seen on the example in lot 87 in this sale. While some ornamental details are seen on both sized models, the scrolled mount with the mask of Apollo on the base appears on the smaller-sized clocks only. Fashioned after Washington's death in 1799, the representation of Washington derives from images widely available in print. With the right arm outstretched, the left resting atop a sword and the coat fastened with two buttons, the standing figure is based upon John Trumbull's 1792 painting, General George Washington at Trenton, which was reproduced by British engraver Thomas Cheeseman in 1796 (see Yale University Art Gallery, acc. nos. 1806.1 and 1948.21). While the same pose is seen on all the related mantle clocks, the makers of these clocks used two distinct likenesses of Washington's head. As seen on the clock offered here, one was based on Trumbull's 1780 painting of Washington, which was reproduced in print by Valentine Green in 1781 and 1783 and contrasts with the other version based on a 1789 portrait by Edward Savage. This clock, like most surviving examples, features an eagle with upturned wings as seen on the Great Seal of the United States (Jonathan Snellenburg, "George Washington in Bronze: A Survey of the Memorial Clocks," Antiques & Fine Art (2001), available online). Beneath the dial on the plinth, features the famous excerpt, "First in War..." from Henry Lee's 1799 eulogy delivered at Washington's funeral. Unlike the small-size examples with the Savage likeness and all the large-size examples, the clock offered here and other small-size versions bearing the Trumbull 1780 likeness have this excerpt slightly misquoted, perhaps altered to fit a smaller space; instead of concluding with "first in the hearts of his countrymen," the last line reads "and in his countrymen [sic] hearts." For other small-size examples with the same figural ornament and wording of the inscription, see Sotheby's, New York, 20 January 2012, lot 296; Bonham's, 25 January 2011, lot 1184.
This clock was made by Jacques Nicolas Pierre François Dubuc, a bronzier/ clockmaker, who from 1806 to 1817 is recorded as working on Rue Michel-le-Comte, the street name inscribed on the dial of the clock offered here and most of the related clocks. Jacques' younger brother, Jean-Baptist Charles Gabriel Dubuc (d. 1819), was also a clockmaker, and the two were distinguished by the designations of "le jeune" (the younger) and "l'ainé" (the elder). As discovered by Lara Pascali while a student in Winterthur Museum's graduate program, it is the elder brother who is listed at the address on the dials rather than Jean-Baptist, who has previously been associated with these clocks. She also found an 1815 letter by "DUBUC, Aine horloger, rue Michel Le Compte, No. 33" to a Baltimore gentleman describing his plan to produce clocks in two sizes with "the statue of the great Washington." This letter provides a start date of 1815 for the entire group of mantle clocks and based on advertisements in American newspapers, these clocks appear to have been made until the financial crisis of 1819 (Snellenburg, op. cit.; Pascali's research is summarized in "Recent Discoveries" at www.winterthur.org). This clock bears an impressed R on the interior of the plinth housing the dial and a similar mark, applied during the casting process, is also noted on a closely related example with unsigned dial (see Hirschl & Adler Galleries, listing on www.1stdibs.com, reference U101115903222). For a mantle clock illustrating the larger model of this design, see lot 87 in this sale.
This clock was made by Jacques Nicolas Pierre François Dubuc, a bronzier/ clockmaker, who from 1806 to 1817 is recorded as working on Rue Michel-le-Comte, the street name inscribed on the dial of the clock offered here and most of the related clocks. Jacques' younger brother, Jean-Baptist Charles Gabriel Dubuc (d. 1819), was also a clockmaker, and the two were distinguished by the designations of "le jeune" (the younger) and "l'ainé" (the elder). As discovered by Lara Pascali while a student in Winterthur Museum's graduate program, it is the elder brother who is listed at the address on the dials rather than Jean-Baptist, who has previously been associated with these clocks. She also found an 1815 letter by "DUBUC, Aine horloger, rue Michel Le Compte, No. 33" to a Baltimore gentleman describing his plan to produce clocks in two sizes with "the statue of the great Washington." This letter provides a start date of 1815 for the entire group of mantle clocks and based on advertisements in American newspapers, these clocks appear to have been made until the financial crisis of 1819 (Snellenburg, op. cit.; Pascali's research is summarized in "Recent Discoveries" at www.winterthur.org). This clock bears an impressed R on the interior of the plinth housing the dial and a similar mark, applied during the casting process, is also noted on a closely related example with unsigned dial (see Hirschl & Adler Galleries, listing on www.1stdibs.com, reference U101115903222). For a mantle clock illustrating the larger model of this design, see lot 87 in this sale.