OF LOUIS XVI STYLE, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

Titled ‘L’Amour couronnant l’Amitié’ this clock dates to circa 1860, and is based on a preparatory drawing of circa 1780 of a similar clock on a side table by the 18th century sculptor, draughtsman and engraver, Louis Félix de La Rue in the musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris and illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Münich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 251, no. 4.6.23. The cylindrical clock in the sketch is supported on billowing clouds and surmounted with putti, much like the present lot. A clock closely resembling the present model, also likely by La Rue, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 251, no. 4.6.22. Interestingly the crowing putto holding a wreath and his companion are drawn from the bureau de roi at Versailles by Riesener and Oeben.

Several 19th century bronziers produced clocks of this model including the firm Charpentier & Cie. A nearly identical clock by Charpentier & Cie with a white marble base sold Christie’s, London, 6 March 2014, lot 178 (£15,000). The Beurdeley dynasty also created versions of this model including one with a white marble base sold Christie’s, London, 9 December 2010, lot 206 (£20,000). For another clock of the model dating to the mid-19th century but with ‘mouvement d’époque Louis XVI’ by Berthoud see C. Cardinal, Ferdinand Berthoud, 1727-1807: horloger mécanicien du roi et de la marine [Exhibition catalogue, Musée international d’horlogerie, 1984-1985], No. 40, p. 267-264.