Lot n° 42
Estimation :
25000 - 35000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 45 500EUR
Chased, gilded and patinated bronze elephant clock. The case - Lot 42
Chased, gilded and patinated bronze elephant clock. The case features an enameled dial with Roman and Arabic numerals indicating hours and minutes. It is signed, as is the movement, "WALTRIN A PARIS". Joseph WALTRIN 1720-before 1789). Cite maitre in 1746. It is adorned with a Chinese figure holding a parasol and a parrot. The whole rests on a rocky openwork terrace embellished with plants. Paris. Louis XV period.
H_46.5 cm W_31 cm D_18.5 cm
Accents, wear.
Joseph WALTRIN (Chatel-en-Lorraine, c.1720 - c.1789). Appointed master in 1746. Active in l'Enclos du Temple in 1747, then rue Saint-Antoine at the "coquille d'Or" in 1748. He held the position of gard-visiteur from 1767 to 1768 and from 1773 to 1775, then deputy in 1778. In 1767, he was appointed Watchmaker to the King.
Comparative work :
- An example similar to our clock, signed WALTRIN A PARIS, sold for €49,000 at Christie's Paris, November 17, 2010, lot 224.
The taste for the exotic in French decorative arts of the mid-18th century was the interest shown in the animal kingdom. This was particularly evident in the designs of clock cases, which incorporated bulls, lions, rhinoceroses and, more often, elephants, as in the clock shown here. This particular model enjoyed great popularity and was produced by a number of Louis XV bronzemakers, some of them renowned, such as Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain (Paris, 1719-1791). Several variants of this model exist, featuring the same elephant on a rocky base, but with different figures surmounting the case.
The most common decoration is a Chinese figure or a monkey holding an umbrella.
*The first example, with a movement by Jean-Baptiste Baillon, is kept at the Residenz Bamberg (H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel. Vergoldete Bronzen. Munich 1986. Vol. I, p. 124, fig. 2.8.5).
*The second model "with cherub holding a sundial", with a movement by Viger, was presented by the Prince de Ligne to Tournai Cathedral (Pierre. Verlet. Les bronzes dorés français du XVIII siècle. Paris 1999, p. 192, fig. 219).
A third clock is in the Parnassa collection (Une Odyssée en Pendules. Masterpieces from the Parnassa Collection. Jean-Dominique Augarde. Volume I. Edition Faton2022. Page258)
Comparative bibliographies:
*H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen Die Bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Munich, 1986, vol. 1, p. 124, fig. 2.8.5.
*J. R. Colon de Carvajal, Catalogo de relojes del Patrimonio nacional, Madrid, 1987, p. 23, n. 4.
*P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Âge au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 126, figs. A to C.
*E. Niehüser, French bronze clocks, 1700-1830, Atglen, 1999, p. 239-240, n. 890, 891, 893 and 894. *An Odyssey in Pendulums. Masterpieces from the Parnassa Collection. Jean-Dominique Augarde. Volume I. Edition Faton 2022. Page 258)
Expert: Stéphane Pepe
Expert : PEPE Stephane
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