Important Watches, Collectors’ Wristw...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Nov 14, 2004

LOT 302

?Tête de Poupée? Gaudron, Paris, No. 1831, circa 1690. Very fine gilt bronze, tortoiseshell covered hour and half-hour striking tête de poupée mantel clock.

CHF 13,000 - 18,000

EUR 8,500 - 12,000 / USD 10,500 - 14,000

Sold: CHF 27,600

C. Red tortoiseshell covered with gilt bronze edges, ormolu Medusa?s head in the front on the base, floral rosettes on the sides, concave sided cresting surmounted by four torch finials.D. White enamel cartouches with radial Roman numerals, outer minutes with every minute numbered, engraved foliate scroll center. Well-pierced steel hands. M. 160x135 mm., brass, going barrels, anchor escapement, later spring suspension, brass-bob pendulum, count wheel on the back plate.Signed on the movement.Dim. Height 60 cm, width 29 cm


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Notes

Antoine I Gaudron b. c. 1640; d. Paris 3 August 1714. Married to Anne Baignoux 1671. Father of Pierre, Antoine II and Marie-Anne, who married Guillaume Hubert, merchant goldsmith in Paris, and later Marchand-orfevre de la reine d'Angleterre Merchant goldsmith to the Queen of England in London. Received as master at Saint-Gcrmain-des-Pr&s between 1660 and 1665, then in Paris on 5 June 1675. Jure 1690-1692. Associated with his sons to trade in "clocks, precious stones, pictures, mirrors, porcelains, bronzes and jewels" 1698. Established Place Dauphin at La Perle 1698 and also at La Renommte 1709, He died comfortably off, leaving more than 174,000 livres. Technically, he invented remarkable movements with several functions. According to his son Pierre, he made in 1688 a "regulator... which followed equations by means of a curve which raised or lowered the clock", which would make it the first French equation clock. It is highly probable that this invention, unconfirmed by any other evidence, was only partially perfected. Antoine Gaudron was Charles Le Bon's best man at his wedding on 18 August 1707, while Pierre Gaudron wrote in his will that Julien Le Roy "has always showed the greatest gratitude to, and the most sincere admiration for my deceased father?, leaving him the 1688 clock among others. It is possible that Le Bon and Le Roy were his compagnons; they were certainly his pupils.