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Lot Essay
This elegant mantel clock, with its combination of proud guardian griffins, classical Wedgwood plaques and arabesque painted decoration, exemplifies the gout étrusque of the 1780’s as promoted by the fashionable marchands-merciers of Paris, notably Dominique Daguerre.
It was almost certainly acquired by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Marie-Christine of Habsburg, who were joint Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1780-1792, and built a lavish palace as their summer residence at Laeken near Brussels between 1782-1784, designed by the French architect Charles de Wailly, which they furnished in the latest fashion. It is known that the Saxe-Teschens visited Paris in August 1786 to visit Marie-Christine's sister, Marie-Antoinette, who organized a party for them at the Trianon. While in Paris they received gifts from Louis XVI of a porcelain-mounted table and a suite of Gobelins tapestries of the Don Quixote series, They also visited Daguerre’s shop in August 1786 to help furnish their spectacular new château. Daguerre was of course the Queen’s favorite dealer, and indeed a celebrated album of drawings of furniture and objets d’art (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Esmerian bequest), is thought to be a form of sale catalogue of produced by Daguerre for the Saxe-Teschens.
The link to Daguerre for this clock is strengthened through the presence of the Wedgwood plaques, as from 1787 he became Wedgwood’s exclusive agent and sole importer of these fashionable wares in Paris.
THE SAXE-TESCHEN’S AND THE CHATEAU DE LAECKEN
Albert of Saxe-Teschen was a passionate art collector and his collection of prints and drawings, now housed in the Albertina Palace, Vienna, remains one of the most important in the world. In 1781 he was appointed Governor of the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), and he immediately started building a stately residence in Brussels. Known as Schoonenberg in the 18th century, this spectacular neo-classical palace, more than 80 meters in width, was designed by the fashionable architect Charles de Wailly with interiors by Gilles Paul Cauvet. The central domed grand salon was circular, and the curved back of this clock could indicate that it was therefore supplied for one of the white marble fireplaces of this curved room. The dazzling richness of the furnishings was reflected by a contemporary visitor who in 1786 described ‘ un nombre infini de bronzes excellents, comme aussi en pendules de tout genre, en fauteuils riches et somptueux, en chenets…c’est le palais le plus riche, le mieux meublé de ceux qui existent dans les pays circonvoisins…’
The Saxe-Teschen’s were forced to flee Brussels in 1792 as a result of the upheavals of the French revolution and returned to Vienna where the Emperor Francis II offered them the Albertina palace as a residence where they were able to house their fabulous collection of paintings, furniture and works of art. The couple died childless, and the collection was inherited by their nephew and adopted son Archduke Charles of Austria.
Schoonenburg was subsequently purchased by the Emperor Napoleon in 1804 who renamed it the Palais Impérial de Laecken, and it remains to this day the residence of the Belgian monarchs.
It was almost certainly acquired by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Marie-Christine of Habsburg, who were joint Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1780-1792, and built a lavish palace as their summer residence at Laeken near Brussels between 1782-1784, designed by the French architect Charles de Wailly, which they furnished in the latest fashion. It is known that the Saxe-Teschens visited Paris in August 1786 to visit Marie-Christine's sister, Marie-Antoinette, who organized a party for them at the Trianon. While in Paris they received gifts from Louis XVI of a porcelain-mounted table and a suite of Gobelins tapestries of the Don Quixote series, They also visited Daguerre’s shop in August 1786 to help furnish their spectacular new château. Daguerre was of course the Queen’s favorite dealer, and indeed a celebrated album of drawings of furniture and objets d’art (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Esmerian bequest), is thought to be a form of sale catalogue of produced by Daguerre for the Saxe-Teschens.
The link to Daguerre for this clock is strengthened through the presence of the Wedgwood plaques, as from 1787 he became Wedgwood’s exclusive agent and sole importer of these fashionable wares in Paris.
THE SAXE-TESCHEN’S AND THE CHATEAU DE LAECKEN
Albert of Saxe-Teschen was a passionate art collector and his collection of prints and drawings, now housed in the Albertina Palace, Vienna, remains one of the most important in the world. In 1781 he was appointed Governor of the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), and he immediately started building a stately residence in Brussels. Known as Schoonenberg in the 18th century, this spectacular neo-classical palace, more than 80 meters in width, was designed by the fashionable architect Charles de Wailly with interiors by Gilles Paul Cauvet. The central domed grand salon was circular, and the curved back of this clock could indicate that it was therefore supplied for one of the white marble fireplaces of this curved room. The dazzling richness of the furnishings was reflected by a contemporary visitor who in 1786 described ‘ un nombre infini de bronzes excellents, comme aussi en pendules de tout genre, en fauteuils riches et somptueux, en chenets…c’est le palais le plus riche, le mieux meublé de ceux qui existent dans les pays circonvoisins…’
The Saxe-Teschen’s were forced to flee Brussels in 1792 as a result of the upheavals of the French revolution and returned to Vienna where the Emperor Francis II offered them the Albertina palace as a residence where they were able to house their fabulous collection of paintings, furniture and works of art. The couple died childless, and the collection was inherited by their nephew and adopted son Archduke Charles of Austria.
Schoonenburg was subsequently purchased by the Emperor Napoleon in 1804 who renamed it the Palais Impérial de Laecken, and it remains to this day the residence of the Belgian monarchs.