Lot 202

Signed Thuret à Paris

A splendid Louis XIV style "pendule religieuse" table clock with contre-partie Boulle Marquetry, quarter repeater, hour/quarter strike and carillon movement, signed Thuret à Paris

The upright oblong case sits on four toupie feet and is intricately inlaid with lavish pewter and tortoiseshell ornamentation of scrollwork, vine leaves and acanthus contre-partie boulle marquetry. The front has an arched window with lambrequin to show the dial. Behind the glass the background is lined with black velvet on which the gilt brass chapter ring and signature plaque are mounted – inspired by the Hague-style, this technique provides a marvellous contrast against the black velvet. The clock is signed "Thuret À Paris" on the base of the signature tableau, which shows the winged Chronos holding the chapter ring.
Four detached columns with Corinthian capitals decorate the corners of the case and the glass-panels on the sides reveal the magnificent movement with a gong, eight bells and hammers. The upper part of the case has an openwork balustrade and an inverted bell gable with eight gilt flambeau finials.
The magnificent carillon movement plays at every quarter hour or at will.
Jacques-Augustin Thuret (1669-1739) was the son of the illustrious clockmaker Isaac Thuret (1630-1706). Like his father before him, Jacques-Augustin Thuret was Horloger du Roi and in 1694 was lodged at the Galeries du Louvre. Thuret worked closely with André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), having provided the movements for numerous clocks with cases attributed to him. In the Wallace Collection, London, a clock case and pedestal attributed to Boulle has a movement signed Thuret and is almost certainly by Jacques-Augustin. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, another pedestal clock attributed to Boulle has a movement signed by Jacques Thuret.
Lit.: "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Francais", Tardy, Paris 1972, p. 614.