A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
Lot 26

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK

BY JACQUES CORNIQUET, CIRCA 1785-90

Closed23 May 2012

Price Realised

GBP 8,750

More Information

How to sell

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
BY JACQUES CORNIQUET, CIRCA 1785-90
CASE: the drum-shaped case supported on a white marble pedestal surmounted by a trophy of Love and draped with quivers of arrows and roses, the shaped plinth applied with clouds and the seated figure of Hebe proffering grapes for Cupid's cup, a frieze of putti before a brazier below, on toupie feet DIAL: the white enamel dial with pierced hands and signed 'Corniquet/A PARIS' MOVEMENT; the twin barrel movement with outside countwheel and strike on bell, later Brocot pendulum suspension, later key
15½ in. (39.4 cm.) high; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) wide; 6¾ in. (17 cm.) deep

Specialist note

Jacques Corniquet, maître in 1785.

This clock corresponds directly to a drawing preserved in the Bibliothèque Doucet, Paris (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 249, fig. 4.6.16). The drawing is not only apparently a depiction of an existing clock (possibly the present lot), but also a design, and can be found in the Livres des Desseins, albeit unsigned by a fondeur-ciseleur. Though the design is unsigned, the similarities with the hand of Louis Prieur should not be overlooked. Other versions of this model are in the Munich Residenz and the Huntingdon Art Gallery, Washington.