CIRCA 1777

The present clock is almost certainly one of two clocks which were made for the Neapolitan Prince of Francavilla and delivered to him in Naples in early 1778. Of the clocks of this type which have survived, the present lot is the closest to a detailed contemporary description of the two clocks when they were exhibited for a few days in January 1778. Two other surviving clocks have been published in the last decade:¹ the example with the arms of the Ginori family² and a clock which was exhibited at the Tefaf Art Fair in 2015.³ A fourth clock in an English private collection survives and is published here for the first time since 1869.⁴ The clock exhibited at Tefaf in 2015 (cited above as the third clock) was very similar to a clock published in 1963, and it also shared the same provenance, so it has been assumed that it was the same clock. Although the differences between these two clocks are subtle, the differences are too numerous and too fundamental for them to be the same clock, so there must be a fifth clock of this type (published in 1963), the whereabouts of which is currently unknown.⁵

The Prince of Francavilla was a member of a branch of the illustrious Genoese Imperiali family which acquired vast fiefdoms in the Kingdom of Naples during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Imperiali were great patrons; significant improvements to city planning and civil life were made under their patronage, and numerous academies for writers and artists were set up. The dynasty did not last long as Prince Michele Imperiali junior (1719-1782), who almost certainly commissioned the present clock, died without any descendants. A great benefactor and patron, this ‘magnificent and generous gentleman’ was Maggiordomo Maggiore to the Bourbon King of Naples and Sicily, Ferdinando IV.⁶

In 1778, La Gazetta Toscana, the only periodical of the time, mentions that ‘two superb similar table-clocks’ were exhibited for a few days in January 1778 at Marchese Lorenzo Ginori’s palazzo in Florence. They were ‘universally admired’ before being crated up and transported by water to Naples to their owner, the Prince of Francavilla.⁷ The Gazetta gives us a very accurate description of the two clocks, specifying that the joints and ligatures of the cases and dial were gilt bronze and the porcelain walls were perforated to enhance the sound of the ‘carillon’ bells of the interior mechanisms (which were made in Les Chaux de Fonds in Neuchâtel, Switzerland).⁸ The Gazetta recorded that the clocks had ‘ingenious movements’ which struck every quarter of an hour, making a ‘small concert’ of Cariglione, and playing a graceful organ aria on the hour. The description notes the precision of the ‘perfectly formed’ pierced grills at the sides of the clocks which allowed the sound of the harmonious music to be heard more easily, and these were described as elegant and refined works in the Greek taste (eleganti e ricercati lavori di gusto Greco). The side panels of the present clock are richly decorated in Greek key pattern borders (which also extend up to the sides of the dome above), whereas the side panels of two of the other surviving clocks are simply trellis pattern, with no ‘Greek’ elements.

Another contemporary description of the Francavilla clocks was written in January 1778 by Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni in his Efemeridi: ‘Today I saw two clocks belonging to the prince of Francavilla; their cases are of porcelain made at the factory of Doccia. The design is that of the painter Giuseppe del Moro and is very solid. It is adorned with statuettes, festoons, flowers and coloured frames and gilded with elegance. The mechanism is Swiss and it is accompanied by the sound of whistles which go off every hour and are preceded by the sound of bells. These clocks are meant to stand on a chest or a table or some similar piece of furniture. Every mechanism is worth 60 zecchini and the whole clock is worth 500 scudi.⁹

The dome of the present clock is different from all the other surviving clocks, its upper part sweeping up to support the figure of Time, whereas the other clocks have a simpler curved dome. A mould which corresponds to this simpler form of the dome survives at Doccia,¹⁰ suggesting that this form is later in date, replacing the form of the present lot which was too complicated to fire (the factory would have retained a mould in use, rather a mould for a design of dome which had been abandoned). The dome of the present clock is made from one single piece of porcelain which would have been extremely difficult to fire successfully without it sagging (it has in fact sagged slightly during firing). The prince’s frustration at the slow progress due to the firing problems of the first clock is clear from a surviving letter of 6th May 1777 to Marchese Lorenzo Ginori from Portici (in Naples, most probably from a senior member of the prince’s staff). This letter expressed disappointment at the news of firing problems of the first clock which had been conveyed in earlier letters and it requested that the design of the clock should be altered so that it could withstand firing.¹¹ As the dome was the part which was most vulnerable to firing issues, this would explain why on subsequent clocks it was adapted to the simpler curved design with an additional rib down its centre for strength, and it also had a wall at the reverse to give it more support.

Marchese Leonardo Ginori Lisci attributed the modelling of the cases of the Francavilla clocks to Giuseppe Ettel (who had replaced Gaspero Bruschi).¹² The groups emblematic of Spring and Summer at the corners are models of circa 1760 by Gaspero Bruschi after ivory figures of the Seasons by Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732) which were in the collection of Marchese Giuseppe Ginori in Florence at the time Bruschi created the porcelain models.¹³ On the clock made for the Ginori family, the allegorical representation of the figures on the buttress supports at the front have been altered from Spring and Summer to Music and History, omitting the putti of the originals. On the present lot, the group on the right has also been altered so that it is emblematic of Music, as the putto holds sheet music and the wheat sheaves are absent. The female figure of the left-hand group on the present lot has lost her original forearms along with any elements held in her hands which could indicate an attribute, so it is unclear what she was emblematic of, but the similarity of the group to the corresponding group of the Thoresby clock suggests it may once have been emblematic of Geometry (or perhaps Architecture). The putto of the Thoresby group is holding a gilt set-square (the putto of the present lot is holding part of what appears to be a gilt set square) and the female muse is holding a book with gilt geometric calculations. The description of the Francavilla clocks in La Gazetta Toscana is clear that one of the figures at the front is emblematic of Music, but the other figure is described as representing “il Tempio?” so it is less clear what the second figure represented. The figure of Time surmounting the dome is adapted from the figure of the Executioner by François Du Quesnoy, which Rita Balleri dates to circa 1750-1760.¹⁴
As noted by Rita Balleri, the commission for a third clock by the manufactory’s owner, Marchese Ginori, arrived while work was underway on the Francavilla clocks in 1777, and it seems as though it was developed in tandem with them. A letter in the Ginori-Lisci archives from the factory to Anton Maria Fanciullacci (dated 16th May 1777), discusses the estimated length of time to complete the Francavilla clocks (6 months) and that Marchese Ginori’s commission of a third clock for himself ‘could give us a hand and would be of great advantage for the greater perfection of the other two’.¹⁵ Given that the request for the design to be altered to improve its chances in the kiln arrived from Naples in May 1777, it is reasonable to assume that the present lot predates May 1777, as the design of the dome was adapted after this date, as evidenced by the Ginori family clock. In combination with the ‘Greek taste’ borders at the sides of the clock, the present clock must therefore be one of the ‘missing’ clocks made for the Prince of Francavilla.

1. Rita Balleri, ‘Orologio monumentale da tavolo / A monumental table clock’, in Amici di Doccia, Quaderni XIII, 2020, pp. 180-190.
2. This clock remained in the Ginori family until it was purchased by the celebrated Florentine collector and dealer Stefano Bardini (1836-1922) at some point between 1898 and 1899. It was subsequently included in Bardini’s sale at Christie’s, London (‘A Catalogue of a Choice Collection of Pictures and Other Works of Art…The Property of Signor Stephano Bardini of Florence’, 26-30th May 1902, lot 501), where it was illustrated. The clock was also published in Bardini’s own catalogue, Collection Bardini, 1899, No. 522, pl. 27). It was unsold and was subsequently sold in Bardini’s American Art Association sale in New York on 23-27 April 1918, lot 252. The clock is illustrated in the 2018 Palazzo Pitti exhibition catalogue (Rita Balleri, Andreina d’Agliano and Claudia Lehner-Jobst, Fragili Tesori dei Principi, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, November 2018 – March 2019 Exhibition Catalogue, Livorno, 2018, pp. 376-379, no. 107), and by Rita Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 182, fig. 2.
3. This clock was formerly in the Giordano Collection, and is illustrated by Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 183, fig. 3.
4. Formerly at Thoresby Hall, Nottinghamshire, but still in the possession of the Pierrepont family at the Thoresby Estate. The clock was previously in the collection of Lord Ashburton and was sold by Christie’s in his sale of items removed from Buckenham, Norfolk, on 24th February 1869, lot 106 (for £168) described as ‘Capo-di-Monte’. Shortly after the sale the Thoresby clock was published in The Chromolithograph, 6th March 1869, pp. 323-324. It also featured in a 1954 painting of the Blue Drawing Room at Thoresby Hall by Marie-Louise Roosevelt Pierrepont, a detail of which is illustrated by Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 184, fig. 4.
5. For this fifth clock, see Leonardo Ginori Lisci, La Porcellana di Doccia, Milan, 1963, pl. LIX, where it notes that at the time of publication it was in the collection of the Marchesa Brivio Sforza Trivulzio in Milan, and it had passed by descent from the Marchesi Rinuccini in Florence (a family who were closely connected with the Ginori family), which is the same provenance stated for the clock exhibited (by the Pelham Galleries of London) at Tefaf in 2015. Due to the identical provenance, and the close similarity of the two clocks, it was thought to be the same clock when it was exhibited at Tefaf, and this view was supported by Rita Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 180 and p. 187 (English translation). Balleri noted differences between the 1963 illustration and the 2015 Tefaf clock but concluded that the clock must have sustained damages and repairs after 1963, and she noted the similarities of accidental features (such as drips of blue enamel on the left-hand scroll support and other spontaneously painted details) on the two clocks which pointed to it being the same clock. However, the blue enamel was clearly prone to dripping on the scroll supports (as demonstrated by the scroll supports of the present lot, where there are drips on both scrolls). Other important differences point to the two clocks being different objects: the curved ribbed edges of the dome are a dark colour (probably dark-blue) in the 1963 (black and white) illustration, yet they are white on the 2015 Tefaf clock. This is not noted in Balleri’s article, and neither are the differences between the plinth support for the figure of Time at the top (on the 1963 clock this is white, yet it is dark-blue on the 2015 Tefaf clock). These features cannot be explained by restoration unless the dome of the Tefaf clock was completely remade, which was not the case. Consequently, either Leonardo Ginori Lisci cited incorrect ownership / provenance details for the clock he illustrated in 1963, or the Trivulzio family must once have had two clocks, not one. In either case, this brings the total of known clocks of this type to five.
6. Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 180 and p. 197 (English translation).
7. La Gazetta Toscana, Florence, 31st January 1778, transcribed by Ginori Lisci, La Porcellana di Doccia, Milan, 1963, pp. 304-305, no. 11:
Nel Palazzo del Sig. March[ese] Ginori sono stati esposti in questi giorni alla pubblica vista due superbi orology eguali da tavolino alti circa un braccio e mezzo e larghi in proporzione e sono stati universalmente ammirati per il meccanismo e soprattutto per la loro ricca custode.
Il Castello de’ medesimi è posto in un luogo del principato di Neuchatel e frag li ingegnosi movimenti ha quello di battere tutti I quarti d’ora e fare contemporaneamente un piccolo concerto di Cariglione e di suonare poi ad ogni ora per mezzo di un organino un’aria graziosamente eseguita, potendosene di queste variare fino ad 8, col mutare dei registri. La cassa poi dentro la quale sono chiusi è tutta di candida e fina porcellana lavorata con vago disegno ed ottimo gusto, alla rinomata fabbrica del prelodato March[ese] Ginori detta di Doccia.
Le commettiture e ligature di questa cassa come altresì il cerchio contenente il cristallo della mostra dell’ore sono di bronzo dorato. Sopra il frontespizio e sui lati base anteriore s’innalzano bellissime rilevate statuette rappresentanti il Tempio (?), La Musica e finali con vaschette di fiori diversi vivamente colorati al naturale e con bassi rilievi esprimenti varie simboliche figurine e con filettature d’oro e tinte varie delicatissime.
Le pareti laterali finalmente son fatte con la più perfetta esattezza a forma di graticola intrecciata ond’esca più distinto il dolce suono delle concordi canne armoniose; e quindi pure si scorgono eleganti e ricercati lavori di gusto Greco. Insomma queste due belle Macchine sono degne del personaggio che le ha commesse, vale a dire di S.E. il Principe di Francavilla, laonde quanto prima saranno incassate per essere trasportate per acqua a Napoli al loro destino.
8. Ginori Lisci, ibid., 1963, p. 144, in the notes for Tav. LIX.
9. Balleri, ibid., 2020, pp. 184-185 and p. 189 (English translation), note 17. BNCF, N.A. 1050, ms, G. Pelli Bencivenni, Efemeridi, 1759-1808, series II, Vol. VI, c. 894, 26th January 1778.
10. Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 185 and p. 189 (English translation).
11. “Restai inteso dalle sue precedent [lettere] dell’accidente accaduto alle consapure case di orologio e che S.E. aveva ordinate le alter in maniera che restar potessero al fuoco […]” cited by Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 185 and p. 189 (English translation), and note 18, AGL, VI, 1, file XIII, lett. 153.
12. Ginori Lisci, ibid., 1963, p. 144, in the notes for Tav. LIX.
13. Cf. Klaus Lankheit, Die Modellsammlung der Porzellanmanufaktur Doccia. Ein Dokument italienischer Barockplastick, Munich, 1982, p. 152, 74:23. The ivory figures of Spring and Summer are now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick, see Sigfried Asche, Balthasar Permoser, Leben und Werk, Berlin, 1978, figs. 89 and 90, and their inscribed reverses (Summer also dated 1695) figs. 91 and 92. Autumn and Winter are illustrated in figs. 93a and 93b, and four Doccia porcelain models after this series are illustrated in figs. 98-101. The figure of Pomona, emblematic of Summer, with the addition of a cornucopia (fig. 100) is most probably the example formerly in the collection of Dr Klaus Lankheit sold in these Rooms on 21st May 2019, lot 21. Also see Aileen Dawson, ‘Unexpected Treasures – Doccia porcelain in the British Museum’, Amici di Doccia, Quaderni III, 2009, pp. 19-20.
14. Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 184 and p. 188 (English translation).
15. Balleri, ibid., 2020, p. 185 and p. 189 (English translation), note 19, AGL, VI, 1, filza XIII, lett. 158.