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Lot Essay
This cartel clock fully displays Charles Cressent’s talent as a sculptor and the quality of his output across the various media in which he worked. Known primarily for his work as a cabinetmaker, between 1730 and 1750 Cressent perfected several lavish models of cartel clocks which reemployed many of the same motifs found in his fine furniture. This clock was in the collection of Walter and Catalina von Pannwitz, great art connoisseurs whose collection, including this clock, was exhibited in 1946 in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
THE DESIGN
This model represents a development and perfection by Cressent of an earlier form of clock which was often separated from its console and in some cases even sold without the console. In the present example Cressent has combined the clock and its base in a single bronze body applied onto a wooden core. Like other models of this type the present clock features a whimsical figure of Cupid stealing Time’s hourglass and this figure combined with the Apollo mask crowning the cartel reflects exactly a description of a model of a clock sold from Cressent’s stock on 19 January 1749: "No. 48. A cartel clock, with a face in bronze, gilded with ormolu, on a background of marquetry, at the top of which is a head of Apollo crowned with laurel branches; below the face is a child holding an hourglass pointing to the time displayed with a finger... 780 L".
At present only three other examples of this extremely rare model are known, all with slight variants. One has a movement signed Julien Leroy and was formerly in the collection of the Marquis d'Etampes and now owned by his descendants. The dial of this example is surrounded with branches and cockerels and the laurel branches are entwined with the rays of the Apollo mask. A second example has a movement signed Jean-Baptiste Baillon and was sold in the de Souhami collection, Anderson Galleries, New York, 17 November 1922, lot 43 and subsequently sold in Paris, 19 December 1946, lot 40. The dial is surrounded with the same laurel branches as the example presented here; height: 87 cm. The final example is signed Martinot and is currently in an Italian Private Collection, Turin. The dial is surrounded with the same laurel branches as this example but the Apollo mask is surrounded by neither laurel leaves nor sunrays. Unlike the present example none of these models carry the ‘C couronné’ dating between 1745 and 1749 and therefore date earlier. The present clock was most probably struck with the crowned 'C' later in the period between 1745 and 1749 as it passed through the market.
Charles Cressent (1685–1768) is one of the most representative furniture makers of the Régence, a period characterised by ormolu mounts of increasingly sculptural quality and splendour. Cressent became master sculptor in 1719 and is recorded as both sculpteur and ébéniste to the duc d'Orléans, and he was constantly in difficulties with the guild of fondeurs and doreurs because, in contravention of the guild rules, he chased and gilded bronzes in his own workshop. In the case of the present example he most likely also provided the design and this supervision over all aspects of the creative process ensured the exceptional quality of Cressent’s oeuvre.
Pierre II Leroy (1687-1762) was one of the most celebrated clockmakers of 18th century Paris. The brother of Julien Leroy, he settled in Paris as a journeyman or independent craftsman in 1710, before being admitted as a master clockmaker in 1721. His signature is found on other clocks by Cressent, including on the regulator formerly in the Wallace collection and on the cartel clock by Beaujon (see Pradère, op.cit. cat. 230, 264).
WALTER AND CATALINA VON PANNWITZ
Walter von Pannwitz (1856-1920) was born into an old Silesian noble family and distinguished himself as a lawyer in Munich in the late 19th century. When he married his second wife Catalina Roth (1876-1959) in 1908 both had already assembled significant art collections with the advice of some of Germany’s most learned art historians. From 1914 they lived in a large mansion in Berlin but at Walter’s death in 1920 Catalina moved with the collection to Hartekamp in the Netherlands where she established a social hub for the European aristocracy, with Kaiser Wilhelm II an especially regular guest. In 1947 the collection was exhibited in the Rijksmuseum where its international character and core of 18th century French decorative arts were much praised in the press.
With thanks to Alexandre Pradère for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
This cartel clock fully displays Charles Cressent’s talent as a sculptor and the quality of his output across the various media in which he worked. Known primarily for his work as a cabinetmaker, between 1730 and 1750 Cressent perfected several lavish models of cartel clocks which reemployed many of the same motifs found in his fine furniture. This clock was in the collection of Walter and Catalina von Pannwitz, great art connoisseurs whose collection, including this clock, was exhibited in 1946 in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
THE DESIGN
This model represents a development and perfection by Cressent of an earlier form of clock which was often separated from its console and in some cases even sold without the console. In the present example Cressent has combined the clock and its base in a single bronze body applied onto a wooden core. Like other models of this type the present clock features a whimsical figure of Cupid stealing Time’s hourglass and this figure combined with the Apollo mask crowning the cartel reflects exactly a description of a model of a clock sold from Cressent’s stock on 19 January 1749: "No. 48. A cartel clock, with a face in bronze, gilded with ormolu, on a background of marquetry, at the top of which is a head of Apollo crowned with laurel branches; below the face is a child holding an hourglass pointing to the time displayed with a finger... 780 L".
At present only three other examples of this extremely rare model are known, all with slight variants. One has a movement signed Julien Leroy and was formerly in the collection of the Marquis d'Etampes and now owned by his descendants. The dial of this example is surrounded with branches and cockerels and the laurel branches are entwined with the rays of the Apollo mask. A second example has a movement signed Jean-Baptiste Baillon and was sold in the de Souhami collection, Anderson Galleries, New York, 17 November 1922, lot 43 and subsequently sold in Paris, 19 December 1946, lot 40. The dial is surrounded with the same laurel branches as the example presented here; height: 87 cm. The final example is signed Martinot and is currently in an Italian Private Collection, Turin. The dial is surrounded with the same laurel branches as this example but the Apollo mask is surrounded by neither laurel leaves nor sunrays. Unlike the present example none of these models carry the ‘C couronné’ dating between 1745 and 1749 and therefore date earlier. The present clock was most probably struck with the crowned 'C' later in the period between 1745 and 1749 as it passed through the market.
Charles Cressent (1685–1768) is one of the most representative furniture makers of the Régence, a period characterised by ormolu mounts of increasingly sculptural quality and splendour. Cressent became master sculptor in 1719 and is recorded as both sculpteur and ébéniste to the duc d'Orléans, and he was constantly in difficulties with the guild of fondeurs and doreurs because, in contravention of the guild rules, he chased and gilded bronzes in his own workshop. In the case of the present example he most likely also provided the design and this supervision over all aspects of the creative process ensured the exceptional quality of Cressent’s oeuvre.
Pierre II Leroy (1687-1762) was one of the most celebrated clockmakers of 18th century Paris. The brother of Julien Leroy, he settled in Paris as a journeyman or independent craftsman in 1710, before being admitted as a master clockmaker in 1721. His signature is found on other clocks by Cressent, including on the regulator formerly in the Wallace collection and on the cartel clock by Beaujon (see Pradère, op.cit. cat. 230, 264).
WALTER AND CATALINA VON PANNWITZ
Walter von Pannwitz (1856-1920) was born into an old Silesian noble family and distinguished himself as a lawyer in Munich in the late 19th century. When he married his second wife Catalina Roth (1876-1959) in 1908 both had already assembled significant art collections with the advice of some of Germany’s most learned art historians. From 1914 they lived in a large mansion in Berlin but at Walter’s death in 1920 Catalina moved with the collection to Hartekamp in the Netherlands where she established a social hub for the European aristocracy, with Kaiser Wilhelm II an especially regular guest. In 1947 the collection was exhibited in the Rijksmuseum where its international character and core of 18th century French decorative arts were much praised in the press.
With thanks to Alexandre Pradère for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.