96th Auction
2017/11/18
Lot 591
Inv(enit) Fec(it) Martinengo H(orlo)ger à Paris, Height 900 mm, circa 1820
An important Empire bronze pendulum clock "Aux trois Figures d'Atlas" with planetarium and armillary sphere after designs by Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853), the bronzes probably by Maison Jacob, Paris
Case: red marble, gilt and patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: 3/4 plate brass movement, 1 barrel for going train, pin wheel escapement, short pendulum.
The group consists of three figures representing Atlas, carrying the striking planetarium and armillary sphere on their shoulders; there are four armillary rings, two of which are inscribed with "Colure des Equinoxes" (equinoctial colure) and "Colure des Solstices" (solstitial colure). In their centre are an ivory Sun with Mercury and Venus, a revolving Earth made of silver with the orbiting Moon, Mars as a silvered star, Jupiter with four moons and Saturn and Mercury in ivory. The three figures stand on a triangular red marble base with fine bronze fittings and applications in the shape of fruit garlands, Apollo and Venus mascarons and relief depictions of Psyche. The sides have three chapter rings each: the signed main dial has Arabic hours and minutes, the second dial shows a finely painted moon phase "Quantieme de la Lune" and the third dial has the date, days of the week and planetary symbols of the day.
Four other such pendulum clocks are known. The first one with a mahogany base was sold for 338,000 US dollars at Christie's New York on November 29, 2012 (lot 307) to the art trade in Paris. Another, also with a mahogany base but with incomplete planetarium, was once part of the N. Tieger Collection in Milan and is shown on page 184f of "N. Tieger, Horloges Anciens", Milan 1990. A third clock with a green marble base was sold at Aguttes in Neuilly on December 8, 2003 (lot 64). A fourth and nearly identical timepiece on a white marble base with planetarium, four armillary rings and figures of Atlas was sold at Koller in Zurich on September 18, 2014 for 218,334 Swiss Francs (lot 1283). It is signed "Inv Fec Martinengo Hger Paris", which makes it the second known pendulum clock of this type with Martinengo's signature.
According to research carried out by auction house Koller in Zurich and an expertise by J. D. Augarde in 2014, a draft of this pendulum clock was created by the two most important architects and designers of their time - Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. The draft is a very rare example of an exact plan and is titled "Pendule exécuté par Jacob / chez M. Chauvelin". It was part of the auction Binoche et Godeau on March 22, 1991 (lot 36) and today belongs to the collections of the Museé Nationale at Malmaison. The relationship between Percier, Fontaine and Jacob Frères was a business as well as a personal one and has been documented since the end of the 18th century. Percier and Fontaine were witnesses at the wedding of Jacob-Desmalter in 1798.
Unfortunately hardly anything is known about the clockmaker Martinengo. A pendulum clock with armillary sphere and planetarium which is also signed by Martinengo was sold by Antiquorum Geneva on June 14, 2003 (lot 79).
An important Empire bronze pendulum clock "Aux trois Figures d'Atlas" with planetarium and armillary sphere after designs by Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853), the bronzes probably by Maison Jacob, Paris
Case: red marble, gilt and patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: 3/4 plate brass movement, 1 barrel for going train, pin wheel escapement, short pendulum.
The group consists of three figures representing Atlas, carrying the striking planetarium and armillary sphere on their shoulders; there are four armillary rings, two of which are inscribed with "Colure des Equinoxes" (equinoctial colure) and "Colure des Solstices" (solstitial colure). In their centre are an ivory Sun with Mercury and Venus, a revolving Earth made of silver with the orbiting Moon, Mars as a silvered star, Jupiter with four moons and Saturn and Mercury in ivory. The three figures stand on a triangular red marble base with fine bronze fittings and applications in the shape of fruit garlands, Apollo and Venus mascarons and relief depictions of Psyche. The sides have three chapter rings each: the signed main dial has Arabic hours and minutes, the second dial shows a finely painted moon phase "Quantieme de la Lune" and the third dial has the date, days of the week and planetary symbols of the day.
Four other such pendulum clocks are known. The first one with a mahogany base was sold for 338,000 US dollars at Christie's New York on November 29, 2012 (lot 307) to the art trade in Paris. Another, also with a mahogany base but with incomplete planetarium, was once part of the N. Tieger Collection in Milan and is shown on page 184f of "N. Tieger, Horloges Anciens", Milan 1990. A third clock with a green marble base was sold at Aguttes in Neuilly on December 8, 2003 (lot 64). A fourth and nearly identical timepiece on a white marble base with planetarium, four armillary rings and figures of Atlas was sold at Koller in Zurich on September 18, 2014 for 218,334 Swiss Francs (lot 1283). It is signed "Inv Fec Martinengo Hger Paris", which makes it the second known pendulum clock of this type with Martinengo's signature.
According to research carried out by auction house Koller in Zurich and an expertise by J. D. Augarde in 2014, a draft of this pendulum clock was created by the two most important architects and designers of their time - Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. The draft is a very rare example of an exact plan and is titled "Pendule exécuté par Jacob / chez M. Chauvelin". It was part of the auction Binoche et Godeau on March 22, 1991 (lot 36) and today belongs to the collections of the Museé Nationale at Malmaison. The relationship between Percier, Fontaine and Jacob Frères was a business as well as a personal one and has been documented since the end of the 18th century. Percier and Fontaine were witnesses at the wedding of Jacob-Desmalter in 1798.
Unfortunately hardly anything is known about the clockmaker Martinengo. A pendulum clock with armillary sphere and planetarium which is also signed by Martinengo was sold by Antiquorum Geneva on June 14, 2003 (lot 79).
Sold
estimated
50.000—200.000 €
Price realized
54.600 €