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Lot Essay
Astrology is represented on this mantel clock by the figure of Urania, wreathed in stars leaning against an urn on which a cockerel crows, representing vigilance. Below, a pair of attendant putti play with astronomical instruments.
The modeling of the figures in combination with the blue Sèvres porcelain vase, calls to mind the work of Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Sculpteur du Roi and Director of Sculpture at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres from 1773-1800, who is known to have gone on to cast some of his biscuit porcelain models in bronze. A related clock, with a white marble, rather than a porcelain urn was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 2 December 1998, lot 14. This apparently unique example with its precious and vivid blue porcelain was probably a commission by a marchand-mercier for an important client.
The casting and chasing of the bronzes can be firmly attributed to the celebrated bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) who, following the death of Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis (fils) in 1783, was responsible for the fitting and design of gilt-bronzes for the Sèvres factory. The basic urn-shaped form of the vase enclosing the movement, derives from a group of three drawings for a vase à monter, commissioned in 1782 for the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre specifically designed to be mounted with ormolu, dating from the early 1780s and now preserved in the Sèvres Archives. Several blue vases of this shape mounted by Thomire with similar ormolu laurel leaves are recorded, including a pair of vases in the Royal Collection (RCIN 36107).
Astrology is represented on this mantel clock by the figure of Urania, wreathed in stars leaning against an urn on which a cockerel crows, representing vigilance. Below, a pair of attendant putti play with astronomical instruments.
The modeling of the figures in combination with the blue Sèvres porcelain vase, calls to mind the work of Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Sculpteur du Roi and Director of Sculpture at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres from 1773-1800, who is known to have gone on to cast some of his biscuit porcelain models in bronze. A related clock, with a white marble, rather than a porcelain urn was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 2 December 1998, lot 14. This apparently unique example with its precious and vivid blue porcelain was probably a commission by a marchand-mercier for an important client.
The casting and chasing of the bronzes can be firmly attributed to the celebrated bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) who, following the death of Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis (fils) in 1783, was responsible for the fitting and design of gilt-bronzes for the Sèvres factory. The basic urn-shaped form of the vase enclosing the movement, derives from a group of three drawings for a vase à monter, commissioned in 1782 for the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre specifically designed to be mounted with ormolu, dating from the early 1780s and now preserved in the Sèvres Archives. Several blue vases of this shape mounted by Thomire with similar ormolu laurel leaves are recorded, including a pair of vases in the Royal Collection (RCIN 36107).