Provenance: Collection of Comte Florimond-Charles de Mercy-Argenteau, who bequeathed the clock to his nephew: François-Joseph de Mercy-Argenteau ( 1780-1869) who married Thérèse-Anne, Princesse de Paar, and who bequeathed the clock to his son: Charles-Joseph (1808-1866) who bequeathed the clock to his son: Carl (1840-1892) who bequeathed the clock to his daughter: Georgina (1864-1931), married Claude, Comte de Pimodan and bequeathed the clock to her son: Louis who died without children and bequeathed the clock to his nephew: Pierre (b. 1918) who sold the clock to his aunt Jeanne (1895-1975), who married Antoine, Baron d'Overschie de Neeryssche, and thence by descent to the present owner. The clock is a masterpiece of the arts of clockmaking and cabinetmaking in the 18th century. The movement, quite complicated, is made with the utmost care to solidity and perfect finish. The use of the dulcimer, most unusual, seems to have been present only in pieces by Christian Kintzing and his son Peter. A lengthy correspondence between Mercy and Roentgen attests to the fact that no efforts were spared to please the Count of Mercy-Argenteau. Various mechanisms add nuance to the playing of the music, and the remarkable quality of the cabinetmaking show that the clock was clearly meant to be extraordinary. We do not know how much the clock cost, however, a letter from Mercy-Argenteau to Roentgen expresses how much he valued the clock. He requests that Roentgen " respectfully remind Mr. Kinzing of the promise he made to me, that he would spare no pains and devote all his famous skill to this task." He also asks that Kintzing carefully inspect the set of flutes and the flageolet because he has noticed that they are slightly out of tune. He tells Roentgen: "I attach an especially high value to this Work of Art, and do not want to show it to any connoisseurs or collectors here until it? has been brought to the highest degree of perfection." Christian I Kintzing (1707-1804) Was a miller and self-taught clockmaker who became one of the most important -perhaps the most important- makers of complicated musical clocks in Germany during the mid and late 18th century. Clocks by him can be found in the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Pushkin Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, and in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum in Seewen. Christian?s son Peter (1745-1816), who was his student and became even better known than his father, signed his clocks "Kinzing". He was a maker of very high quality clocks, with or without music, of which he produced a greater number than his father. Peter Kintzing collaborated with David Roentgen on the famous "Joueuse de Tympanon" today in the Paris Musée des Arts et Métiers. When in 1787, Roentgen wrote to the Count of Mercy Argenteau, saying that he was about to leave for Paris, and was taking along "the young Kintzing", to clean the present clock, he was almost certainly referring to Peter. David Roentgen (1743-1807) Was one of the most important and esteemed cabinet-makers in Europe. He was the son of a successful cabinet-maker in Neuwied, near Cologne. He expanded his father?s business, making it the most important in Europe, and supplying virtually all the royalty in Europe and Russia. From 1770 to 1774, Roentgen worked on a desk which he intended to present to Marie-Antoinette, but may have found it outdated according to Paris styles of the time when in 1774 he made a visit to the French capital. Upon leaving France, Roentgen must have realized that he would have to make changes in order to please French taste, but also, perhaps, that he needed to compete on another level. This turned out to be a specialization in furniture with mechanical devices, such as hidden mirrors, drawers and clocks. Roentgen was furnished with the clockwork devices for these pieces of furniture by Christian and later Peter Kintzing, ingenious clockmakers who lived in Neuwied. One of the well-known pieces on which Kintzing and Roentgen collaborated is the famous "Joueuse de timpanon" purchased by Marie-Antoinette in 1785 and now displayed in Paris? Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. Upon his return to Neuwied, Roentgen began work on three massive cabinets, one of which he sold to Louis XVI, who had a great appreciation for all things mechanical. The first of these three cabinets, sold to Prince Charles de Lorraine, a brother-in-law of Maria Theresa, is surmounted by a clock enclosure almost identical to the present one. Count Florimond de Mercy-Argenteau (1727-1794) Born on April 20, 1727, in Liege, then under Austrian rule, he was born to an important Belgian family. His father was a Lieu-tenant Colonel in the Regiment of Lorraine who in 1726 married Thérèse Henriette de Rouveroy, the daughter of a Baron. She was to survive the young Florimond-Claude by only two years, which resulted in the child?s being raised by two of his uncles. Rather than embracing a military career, like his father, he was drawn to diplo-macy, and traveled to Paris with Austrian ambassador Kaunitz, as an unofficial embassy member. Austria desired to strengthen the relationship between France and Austria, in the hopes of isolating the King of Prussia and reversing traditional alliances. This aim was later to be achieved with the marriage in 1770 of Austrian Archduchess Marie Antoinette and the French dauphin. Indeed, Austrian Empress Maria Theresa made Mercy-Argenteau her French ambassador, in replacement of Count Starhemberg. Mercy-Argenteau was to prove himself amply worthy of the Empress? trust. He was shrewd, urbane, witty, and at ease in all circumstances. His gift of showing himself agreeable and trust-worthy allowed him to enjoy cordial rela-tionships with many, regardless of politi- cal and social alliances: Louis XV, Mada-me du Barry, the Dauphine and later Queen Marie-Antoinette, had all accorded him their confidence and trust. Having played an important rôle in the ar-duous negotiations concerning the mar-riage of Archduchess Marie-Antoinette to the Dauphin, and brought them to a suc-cessful conclusion, Mercy-Argenteau was already an important figure at court when Louis XVI acceeded to the throne in 1774, and was to remain so throughout his reign. In the rigid, etiquette-bound world of Versailles, Mercy traced his course with a sure hand. Maria Theresa considered him a precious ally, relying on him to in-fluence her sometimes headstrong young daughter, helping her to grow into the rôle of Queen, and at times tactfully reminding her of her "obligations" to her native land. Mercy kept the Empress informed of all the important events at the French court, even the most intimate ones, for Maria-Theresa was extremely concerned about Marie-Antoinette?s seeming inability to produce an heir to the throne and demanded abundant information on the King and Queen?s private life. The ambassador also wrote to his sovereign about the Queen?s worrisome habit of gambling and the effect it was having on her reputation. During the tempestuous years preceeding the Revolution, Mercy attempted to reestablish stability, giving his support to Loménie de Brienne and then to Necker, in vain. In 1792 he was named governor-general of the Belgian provinces, recently come under Austrian control. Subsequently, he was made Plenipotentiary Minister to the Netherlands. Mercy was informed of the royal family?s plans to flee Paris through secret correspondance, but could do nothing to help the Queen, nor to save her from her fate in 1793. Upon instructions from the new Emperor Franz II, Mercy went to London to conduct negotiations with the English, but was taken ill and died there on August 25, 1794. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) A gamekeeper?s son, he was born in Erasbach, Germany on July 2, 1714. His musical gifts having been discovered, the young Gluck was sent to study music in Komotau (today Chomutov, Czech Republic) and in Prague and Milan, where his teacher was Giovanni Battista Sammartini. After his first opera, "Artaserse", produced in Milan in 1778, Gluck wrote and produced some 16 operas throughout Europe, among them "Sofonisba" (1744) and Artamene (1746). In 1750, Gluck became resident director of opera at the Viennese court. In this capacity, he had given lessons to the young Marie-Antoinette, a gifted musician who enjoyed playing the harp, and who was to appreciate and support the composer in future years. Until 1762, Gluck had composed primarily in the operatic style then in vogue, a lyrical and highly ornamented style which came primarily from Italy and which afforded ample opportunity to virtuoso singers to display their skill. Desiring to restore opera?s original goal of expressing emotion in music, Gluck asked Italian poet Ranieri di Calzabigi for a libretto which fit with his ideas about the proper balance between words and music. The resulting opera, "Orfeo ed Euridice" was produced in Vienna in 1762, to great success. Gluck?s ideas of operatic reform were not universally appreciated, particularly in Paris, where between 1774 and 1781, a dispute opposed the supporters of Gluck and those of the Neapolitan composer Piccinni, who gave precedence to lyri-cism. The director of the Paris opera commis-sioned the rivals each to compose an opera on the same text, "Iphigénie en Aulide". When Gluck?s version was given at the Paris Opera, she attended all the performances, supporting Gluck by ap-plauding vigorously and thus guaran-teeing his success. Gluck had arrived in Paris in 1774, at which time Mercy-Argenteau had asked him to give lessons to Mademoiselle Levasseur, an actress and singer who was also his mistress. She had notewor-thy successes in Gluck?s operas "Alceste", "Armide" and "Iphigénie en Tauride". Given their long acquantiance, their mutual respect and their common ties to both the Austrian and the French courts, it is not surprising that Mercy-Argenteau should ask Gluck to compose a musical accompaniment for his clock. This clock is therefore a most unusual and important example of collaboration of the most prestigious artists of their period ? Roentgen, cabinet-maker, Gluck, composer, and Kintzing, clock-maker ? working for one of the most important men of the time - Mercy-Argenteau ? a trusted member of the Viennese court, and an intimate friend of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI. Bibliography H.J. Antweiler, "L'horloge du Comte Mercy d'Argenteau" (sic). Hans Huth, "Roentgen", Münich, 1974. Hans von Bertele, "Horloges", Braunschweig 1961. Klaus Maurice, "L?horloge à rouages allemande", Münich 1976. Olivier Bernier, "Secrets of Marie Antoinette, A Collection of Letters", New York, 1986. Professor Dr. Gerhard Croll, "Eine ']oueuse de Tirnpanon en forme de petit clavecin' mit Musik von Christoph Willibald Gluck", Festschrift für Kurt Wittmayer, 1997, pp. 2 -6. E Gardissal, "l'Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau et le Grand Cercle", Paris, 1910. Josef Maria Greber, "Abraham und David Roentgen, Möbel für Europa", Vol. II, 1980, illustrated pls. 706-707. Hans Huth, "Roentgen Furniture", 1974. Comte de Pimodan, "Le Comte F.C. de Mercy-Argenteau, Ambassadeur Impérial a Paris sous Louis XV et Louis XVI", Paris, 1911.