Provenance: The Time Museum, Rockford, Illinois. (inventory No. D1019). Literature: ?French Clocks the World Over?, part one, Tardy, Paris, 1981, p 242. ?The Time Museum, an Introduction?, Seth G. Atwood & William Andrewes, 1983, p.12. Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) Perhaps the greatest cabinetmaker of all time. Boulle was born in Paris, the son of a Dutch cabinetmaker. He followed in his father?s footsteps, and became so accomplished that he soon came to the attention of the chief finance minister, Colbert, who recommended him to King Louis XIV as the most skilful cabinetmaker in Paris. Boulle was given royal protection and a workshop at the Louvre, which gave him exemption from the strict guild system, which then regulated furniture production in France. Boulle furniture, including the magnificent clocks, were highly prized as expensive masterpieces and epitomize the glories of the court of Louis XIV. Boulle pieces were commissioned by most of Louis XIV's chief ministers and clergy, famously including Cardinal Mazarin whose name has become synonymous with a particular style of desk. Boulle's style of furniture making lent itself to the production of clock cases, the present clock being a fine example of the type. Such clocks can be found in Versailles and in other museums and in great private houses in France. François Girardon (1628-1715) A French sculptor, and famous exponent of classicism, who worked for Louis XIV at Versailles. His most famous sculp-tures there are Apollo Tended by Nymphs (begun 1666; original grouping altered) in the grotto of Thetis, and the Rape of Persephone (begun 1677) in the gardens. His other work includes the monument to Richelieu (1675-77). He was the most eminent sculptor in France during the last three decades of the 17th century, playing a vital part in the creation of the French classical style and, through his role as dominant sculptor on the royal works of Louis XIV, helping to disseminate this style in France, as well as turning it into a model for emulation throughout Europe. Ever since the early 18th cen- tury, collectors have prized clocks housed within Boulle cases for their practical quali-ties as well as their extreme beauty. After the French revolu-tion many of these clocks were eagerly bought by the British nobility along with other French masterpieces sold at the great sales following the Revolution. -King George IV was a passion-ate collector of French works of art and his purchases, includ-ing many French clocks, can be still be seen today in the British Royal Collection. The King's friend, The Mar-quess of Hertford, formed one of the greatest collections of French furniture and works of art, now known as the Wallace Collection in London. There are several clocks in the collection related to the present lot in date, style and design. The Torricelli Barometer Invented by Evangelista Torri-celli (1608-1647) in 1643, it was made by first filling a dish with mercury. Mercury was then poured into a long tube., the tube filled almost to the top, stoppered and inverted several times to remove air bubbles, and then completely filled with mercury. A finger was placed over the top of the tube and the tube was inverted and placed in the dish below the mercury level. When the finger was removed, the level of the mer-cury inside the tube dropped until the pressure at the bottom of the column of mercury was equal to the pressure exerted by the surrounding air. Since no air was allowed to enter the tube, the empty space above the mercury column was a vacu-um. Torricelli noted that varia-tions in air pressure corre-sponded to changes in the weather, and that these varia-tions could be used for weather prediction.