Bonhams 1793 : A fine and rare Louis XIV ormolu mounted boulle marquetry quarter striking bracket clock Signed Pierre Margotin, Paris, circa 1700

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8 Dec 2011 13:00 EST New York
Fine Watches, Wristwatches, and Clocks including Property from a Distinguished Collection
Back to auction 19422

A fine and rare Louis XIV ormolu mounted boulle marquetry quarter striking bracket clock

Signed Pierre Margotin, Paris, circa 1700
The arched case with scrolled corners and lambrequin beneath a bell top with urn finials, raised on toupie feet, arched dial gilt with applied chapter ring and relief cast center above a pierced mount cast and chased with figures of Apollo and Diana, and mask of Mercury within scrollwork, black enamel roman chapters on white cartouche reserves, blued steel hands, the rectangular three train movement with seven ringed baluster pillars, going barrels, the striking and quarter trains planted upside down, verge escapement with thread suspended pendulum mounted between cycloidal cheeks, striking the hours and quarters by means of paired numbered count wheels, hour bell and two quarter bells mounted under the dome of the case. 30cm wide x 12cm deep x 53cm high, (12 1/2" wide x 5 3/4" deep x 21 1/4" high)

Estimate:

US$ 10,000 - 15,000
£6,600 - 9,900
€7,700 - 12,000

Footnotes

The present clock represents the final stage in the development of the earliest pendulum clocks or pendules religieuses. It marks the transformation of the French clock from mechanical curiosity into a decorative object. Recent scholarship suggests that the majority of these Boulle cases were indeed produced in the workshop of André-Charles Boulle. The unusual under dial mount appears on another quarter striking clock by Clouzier (Plomp fig. 205)

Similarly, the movement of this clock has evolved from the simple 30-hour timepiece proposed by Huygens (see lot 16) into a long duration clock capable of complex striking. This was facilitated in the 1680's by mounting the two striking trains on either side of the going barrel and planting the wheels in inverted order to conserve space.

Pierre Margotin is thought to have been born in Paris about 1625. He was received as maître horloger in 1646. He served twice as a member of the governing body (Jurande) of the Paris Clockmaker's Guild, in 1681 and 1685. His son, also Pierre, may have succeeded to his business by the time this clock was made. Margotin is known from his watches and a small number of clocks, notably a pendule religieuse of c. 1695, with calendar and moon phase display. (Plomp, figs. 207-210)

Literature:

Plomp, R. Early French Pendulum Clocks, 1658 -1700, Scheidam (2009)

Augard, J. D. Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva (1996)