LEPAUTE, PARIS, CIRCA 1780, THE FIGURES AFTER ETIENNE MARTINCOURT

Details

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE STRIKING MANTEL CLOCK
LEPAUTE, PARIS, CIRCA 1780, THE FIGURES AFTER ETIENNE MARTINCOURT
The case flanked by figures emblematic of Astronomy and History, the white enamel dial signed 'Lepaute / H.GER DU ROI', the twin barrel movement with pinwheel escapement and countwheel strike to bell, on a later marble plinth
The clock 24 ½ in. (62 cm.) high; 30 in. (76 cm.) wide; 11 ½ in. (29 cm.) deep; the base 2 ¼ in. (6 cm.) high; 31 in. (79 cm.) wide; 12 in. (30 cm.) deep

Provenance

S.A. Princesse Cécile Murat (1867-1960), 28 rue de Monceau, Paris née Marie-Cécile Ney d'Elchengen, daughter of Michel Ney d'Elchengen, 3rd Duc d'Elchengen and Margarite Furtado-Heine, married in 1884 Joachim Napoléon, 5th Prince Murat (1856-1932)
Sold Me. Besançon, Palais Galliera, Paris, 2 March 1961, lot 64.
With Partridge, London.

Special notice

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Brought to you by

Alexandra Cruden

acruden@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2566

Lot Essay

The figures of Urania and Clio, emblematic of Astronomy and History, featured on the present clock are after a design by Etienne Martincourt (maître in 1762) and appear on a clock supplied circa 1773-7 to Louis XVI for the Salon du Conseil at the Tuileries Palace, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (G. Wilson et. al., European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1996, no. XVI, pp. 114-123). A clock executed by J.B. Dutertre circa 1785, closely related to that offered here, albeit with a different base, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Münich, 1989, II, p. 296, fig. 4.18.3.

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