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)
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)
Sold for
US$ 6,875
inc. premium
Footnotes
- The present clock represents the final stage in the development of the earliest pendulum clocks or pendules religieuses. 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 into a long duration clock capable of complex striking 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 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. 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)
Category: Clocks and Watches / Clocks
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