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Lot Essay
Claude Du Grand Mesnil (d. 1782), maître 1716, later recorded at Pont au Change 1745-59.
THE CLOCK CASE DESIGN
An engraving by Jean Bérain depicting a mantel clock with similar overall form and harpy supports above a plinth base, is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes, Paris, and in the Bibliothèque Doucet, Paris (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1989, vol. I, p. 48, fig. 1.5.1). This model is discussed by J. N. Ronfort in 'André-Charles Boulle: die Bronzearbeiten und seine Werkstatt im Louvre', Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, vol. II, pp. 485-488). The above mentioned Royal Collection clock is one of two at Windsor Castle (the second also with later Vulliamy movement), both have the same case as another example formerly at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire (later sold Collection Djahanguir Riahi, Christies, London, 6 December 2012, lot 42.) apart from slight variations in the mounts, and both have a figure of Father Time/Chronos above the dome. Ronfort dates this model to 1695-1700 and points out that it was particularly fashionable around 1700, the probable date of the terracotta model for a mantel clock with domed cresting attributed to Jean Cornu (1650-1710) now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (G. Wilson, European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996, no. III, pp. 14-19.). Another probably closest in design is on the chimneypiece of the Chambre de Monsieur le Prince at the Château de Chantilly. A further similar example, from the collection of the Rt. Hon. Viscount Emlyn, Stacpole, Pembrokeshire, sold Sotheby's, London, 13 July 1962, lot 187.
COMPARABLE PEDESTAL CLOCKS
The present clock and pedestal combination is one of three known. The closest is that sold from the Estate of Ogden Phipps, Sotheby's, New York, 19 October 2002, lot 85, the movement unsigned. The second is that in the Royal Collection (RCIN 30004), with differences to the pedestal mounts, the later movement by Vulliamy (C. Jagger, Royal Clocks, London, 1983, pp. 124-5).
THE CLOCK CASE DESIGN
An engraving by Jean Bérain depicting a mantel clock with similar overall form and harpy supports above a plinth base, is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes, Paris, and in the Bibliothèque Doucet, Paris (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1989, vol. I, p. 48, fig. 1.5.1). This model is discussed by J. N. Ronfort in 'André-Charles Boulle: die Bronzearbeiten und seine Werkstatt im Louvre', Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, vol. II, pp. 485-488). The above mentioned Royal Collection clock is one of two at Windsor Castle (the second also with later Vulliamy movement), both have the same case as another example formerly at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire (later sold Collection Djahanguir Riahi, Christies, London, 6 December 2012, lot 42.) apart from slight variations in the mounts, and both have a figure of Father Time/Chronos above the dome. Ronfort dates this model to 1695-1700 and points out that it was particularly fashionable around 1700, the probable date of the terracotta model for a mantel clock with domed cresting attributed to Jean Cornu (1650-1710) now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (G. Wilson, European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996, no. III, pp. 14-19.). Another probably closest in design is on the chimneypiece of the Chambre de Monsieur le Prince at the Château de Chantilly. A further similar example, from the collection of the Rt. Hon. Viscount Emlyn, Stacpole, Pembrokeshire, sold Sotheby's, London, 13 July 1962, lot 187.
COMPARABLE PEDESTAL CLOCKS
The present clock and pedestal combination is one of three known. The closest is that sold from the Estate of Ogden Phipps, Sotheby's, New York, 19 October 2002, lot 85, the movement unsigned. The second is that in the Royal Collection (RCIN 30004), with differences to the pedestal mounts, the later movement by Vulliamy (C. Jagger, Royal Clocks, London, 1983, pp. 124-5).