94th Auction
2016/11/12
Lot 166
Boursier, février l'an XI (22. September 1802 - 22. September 1803), Height 515 mm, circa 1803
An important Empire automaton carousel clock with half hour/hour strike
Case: ormolu and patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, count wheel, anchor escapement, silk suspended short pendulum. Automaton mechanism: independent train with going barrel released by the striking train or at will by means of a cord.
From an octagonal gilt bronze base with molded leaf pattern rises the octagonal patinated bronze pedestal, decorated with gilt putti playing music and birds of prey as well as applied palm leaves. In the centre sits the carousel on a round fluted plinth: three putti representing Hermes, Eros and a jester ride around the pole on swans - they are identified by their headpieces and their symbols on the bars above their heads. The figures are aiming their daggers at a ring and a laurel wreath that are fitted to flagpoles on each side; the flagpoles are supported by horse heads. The carousel is terminated by three griffins and a relief finial with putti.
An identical clock was made for the Austro-Hungarian prince, Count Nikolaus Esterhazy (1765-1833), who was a brilliant soldier and important patron of the arts, while another model was once in the collection of the Marquis of Tweedale. A very similar clock, is exhibited in the Grassy Museo del Reloj Antiguo in Madrid, No. 15 of the museum catalogue.
Pierre Kjellberg, "Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française du Moyen Age au XXe Siècle", 1997, p. 447, pl. F, illustrating and almost identical clock.
An important Empire automaton carousel clock with half hour/hour strike
Case: ormolu and patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, count wheel, anchor escapement, silk suspended short pendulum. Automaton mechanism: independent train with going barrel released by the striking train or at will by means of a cord.
From an octagonal gilt bronze base with molded leaf pattern rises the octagonal patinated bronze pedestal, decorated with gilt putti playing music and birds of prey as well as applied palm leaves. In the centre sits the carousel on a round fluted plinth: three putti representing Hermes, Eros and a jester ride around the pole on swans - they are identified by their headpieces and their symbols on the bars above their heads. The figures are aiming their daggers at a ring and a laurel wreath that are fitted to flagpoles on each side; the flagpoles are supported by horse heads. The carousel is terminated by three griffins and a relief finial with putti.
An identical clock was made for the Austro-Hungarian prince, Count Nikolaus Esterhazy (1765-1833), who was a brilliant soldier and important patron of the arts, while another model was once in the collection of the Marquis of Tweedale. A very similar clock, is exhibited in the Grassy Museo del Reloj Antiguo in Madrid, No. 15 of the museum catalogue.
Pierre Kjellberg, "Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française du Moyen Age au XXe Siècle", 1997, p. 447, pl. F, illustrating and almost identical clock.
Sold
estimated
25.000—35.000 €
Price realized
34.800 €