Importantes Montres de Collection

Geneva, Nov 13, 2011

LOT 253

RIMBAULT SILVER MOUNTED QUARTER STRIKING MANTEL CLOCK Stephen Rimbault, London. Made circa 1760. Extremely fine and rare, George III, silver-mounted giltbronze, 8-day going, three-train mantel clock with quarter striking and painted dial.

CHF 35,000 - 45,000

USD 38,000 - 50,000 / EUR 28,000 - 37,000

C. Rococo drum-form, urn fi nial set with a green paste, handles with leaf terminals, four feet, silver fl ower and insect mounts secured by screws, the sides and back door with silver sound frets. D. White enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and Arabic fi ve-minute numerals, the center fi nely painted with a polychrome scene of a gentleman serenading two ladies in a rustic landscape. Finely pierced steel hands. M. 12 cm, circular gilt-brass, the back plate engraved with foliate scrolls, fusee and chain for each of the three trains, verge escapement with fi xed short bob pendulum, striking the hours with a hammer on a single bell, the quarters with two hammers on two further bells. Movement signed. Dim. 30 x 16 x 13 cm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-70-01

Good

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Hairline

HANDS Original

Notes

The present clock is a rare example of English rococo, thought of in England at the time as ?French taste?. This was a relatively short-lived fashion in the mid-18th century. The case of this clock is very fi nely chased and set with silver mounts including two charming insects above the dial. The movement is of high quality with three trains and quarterstrikng.
Stephen Rimbault This interesting maker of high reputation was working in Great Andrew?s Street, St. Giles, London, between 1744 and 1788. He was of Huguenot descent and specialized in the making of complicated musical clocks, some with automatons. When the artist Johan Zoffany arrived in London in 1760 and was trying to establish himself, he fi rst started working for Stephen Rimbault and painted dials for his clocks. Zoffany?s portrait of Rimbault is now in the Tate Gallery, London.