Collector's Pocket Watches, Wristwatc...

Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 12, 2003

LOT 447

The LionFol à Paris, circa 1780.Very fine and important gilt bronze, height day going hour- and half hour-striking table clock.

CHF 45,000 - 55,000

EUR 31,000 - 38,000 / USD 33,000 - 41,000

C. The movement supported by a finely-cast sculpture of a lion standing on a pedestal, below military trophies and laurel leaf garlands, beneath the trophies a medallion with the bust of a noble gentleman wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, stepped base, square molded feet, movement with applied ormolu laurel leaves, vase finial terminated with a torch. D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, five-minute Arabic markers. Gilt "Louis XVI" hands. M. 85 mm., brass, two goingbarrels, anchor escapement, silk suspension, count wheel on the back plate. Signed on dial and movement. Dim. Height 40 cm., width 28 cm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*
Dial: 3 - 20 - 01

Notes

The clock is very richly ornamented. It was no doubt ordered by the nobleman whose portrait decorates the base. The fact that he wears the Order of the Golden Fleece means that he was of a very high social rank.A virtually identical clock from the same cast with a movement by Meunier le Jeune is illustrated in "Les Ouvriers du Temps" by Jean-Dominique Augarde, Editions Antiquorum, Genève, 1996, p. 373. Another similar clock, partially from the same cast, but not so lavishly decorated, is illustrated in La Pendule Française, by Tardy, Paris, 1981, p. 17.Order of the Golden FleeceThis order of Knighthood was founded in 1430 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, whose skills in international politics were renowned and whose court, undoubtedly the most dazzling of the late Middle Ages, was renowned for the splendor of its ceremonies. Already linked through marriage to the House of Austria, the wedding of Archduke Philip with Infanta Joan of Castille in 1496 would link the Order to the Spanish Crown forever. This circumstance, and the fact that Spain evolved into one of themightiest European powers of the 16th and 17th centuries, led the Order of Golden Fleece to become the most valued and distinguished order of knighthood in the whole of Christendom.