Lot Essay
French ormolu cartel, mantel and bracket clocks were highly prized and much sought-after in Holland in the 18th Century and were imported in considerable quantities. On numerous occasions, only the ormolu clock cases were imported, and provided with a Dutch movement, such as a mantel clock in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, symbolising Prudence, which was probably executed in the workshop of the ébéniste and bronzier Pierre-Antoine Foullet (maître in 1765), and fitted with a movement by the Amsterdam clockmaker Rudolf Louis Cresp. (R.J. Baarsen, Meubelen en Zilver op de tentoonstelling `Edele Eenvoud, Neo-classicisme in Nederland 1765-1800', Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 1989, p. 123)
Apparently, ormolu cartel clocks were particularly admired in Holland, and were imitated in giltwood rather than in ormolu, which was not produced in Holland. The present example is closely related to the large giltwood cartel clock which was supplied to the anteroom of the Felix Meritis society on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam in 1792. The clock was made by the Amsterdam sculptor Jan Swart (1754-1794) after a design by Jacob Otten Husly (1738-1796). Swart was paid 107.13 florins and Jan Hendrik Khn (1755 ? -1811), who supplied the movement, received 130 florins. With its heavy laurel swags and bold acanthus carving, this clock recalls the engraved designs in the Gout Grec by Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1791) of the 1760s, which were published in 1785 and 1787 in Amsterdam, rather than the refined slender forms of the 1790s. (R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Zwolle, 1993, pp. 138-139)
See illustration
Apparently, ormolu cartel clocks were particularly admired in Holland, and were imitated in giltwood rather than in ormolu, which was not produced in Holland. The present example is closely related to the large giltwood cartel clock which was supplied to the anteroom of the Felix Meritis society on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam in 1792. The clock was made by the Amsterdam sculptor Jan Swart (1754-1794) after a design by Jacob Otten Husly (1738-1796). Swart was paid 107.13 florins and Jan Hendrik Khn (1755 ? -1811), who supplied the movement, received 130 florins. With its heavy laurel swags and bold acanthus carving, this clock recalls the engraved designs in the Gout Grec by Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1791) of the 1760s, which were published in 1785 and 1787 in Amsterdam, rather than the refined slender forms of the 1790s. (R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Zwolle, 1993, pp. 138-139)
See illustration