A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU STRIKING EIGHT DAY MANTEL CLOCK
Lot 70 THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU STRIKING EIGHT DAY MANTEL CLOCK

THE CASE BY OSMOND, THE MOVEMENT BY J.F. BOURGEOIS. CIRCA 1775

Closed9 July 2009

Price Realised

GBP 16,250

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A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU STRIKING EIGHT DAY MANTEL CLOCK
THE CASE BY OSMOND, THE MOVEMENT BY J.F. BOURGEOIS. CIRCA 1775
CASE:with fruit-swagged urn finial flanked by silk-backed pierced frets, above oak leaf swagged arched case, above breakfront Vitruvian scroll decorated plinth, stamped 'OSMOND' to rear
DIAL: white enamel and signed 'J.F. BOURGEOIS/A PARIS', pierced and engraved ormolu hands
MOVEMENT: with twin barrels, anchor escapement with silk suspension and countwheel strike on bell, repeat signature to back plate; pendulum, winding key
17½ in. (44.5 cm.) high, 13½ in. (34.5 cm.) wide, 6 in. (15 cm.) deep

Sold Christie's London, Property from a Belgravia Residence, 27 April 2006, lot 216.

Specialist note

Jean-Francois Bourgeois, recorded as maître in 1761, at Rue Taranne 1770-1772 and Rue du Petit Bourbon 1778.
This clock illustrates many of the neo-classical ornaments which became fashionable in the third quarter of the 18th century. Vitruvian scrolls, ribbon-tied oak leaf garlands, acanthus leaves and the classical urn were made fashionable by several ornemanistes including Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1789), whose ornaments were published in his Nouvelle Iconologie Historique, the first volume of which was published in 1768 (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, p. 170). A virtually identical clock, signed by Lepaute, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Monaco, 23-24 June 1985, lot 935.