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A LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MANTEL CLOCK
- THE MOVEMENT BY CHARLES BALTHAZAR, PARIS, CIRCA 1755-60

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A LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MANTEL CLOCK
THE MOVEMENT BY CHARLES BALTHAZAR, PARIS, CIRCA 1755-60
Estimate
(Set Currency)
    £12,000 - £18,000
  • ($18,192 - $27,288)

Sale Information

Sale 7900
A View from the Spanish Steps - The Collection of Maria Angiolillo
15 July 2010
London, King Street

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Lot Description

A LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MANTEL CLOCK
THE MOVEMENT BY CHARLES BALTHAZAR, PARIS, CIRCA 1755-60
CASE: with open lyre shaped frame, embellished with flowers and centred by a porcelain group of a courting couple and putto, originally with further elements (damage and restoration to the porcelain) DIAL: white enamel dial signed 'CHLES BALTHAZAR/A PARIS', pierced and engraved ormolu hands MOVEMENT: the twin barrels movement with later dead beat escapement and calibrated countwheel strike on bell, the back plate signed 'Balthazar Paris'
23½ in. (59.5 cm.) high; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) wide; 10¼ in. (26 cm.) deep

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Lot Notes

Charles Baltazar, maître horloger in 1717.
During the 1740s through the end of the 1750s, these porcelain-mounted French clocks were popular throughout Europe. Their success was due primarily to the efforts of the Parisian marchands-merciers such as Lazare Duraux, who ordered porcelain pieces to be fitted into the bronze mounts, most notably the figures and flowers from the Meissen and Vincennes factories. The shepherd and animals are by Meissen's model Master, J. J. Kandler, who was responsible for creating these figures, a fashion which began as table decoration. An identical Meissen group, with different glazes, can be found in the Palazzo Pitti (see T. Clarke, Le porcellane tedesche di Palazzo Pitti, 1999, p. 156). The Balthazar dynasty of horlogers is first recorded in the late 17th century and flourished well into the 19th century. The movement of this clock is by Henri-Charles dit Charles Balthazar, elected maître in 1717, and first recorded in Place Dauphine in 1733. One of the most famous of his family, 'Horloger de Mesdames Filles de France', he used clock cases by B. Lieutaud, J.J. de St-Germain, A. Foullet and J. Goyer, and supplied movements to the ébénistes J. Dubois and J.F. Oeben. Among his clients were the Garde-Meuble Royal and the ambassador of Russia.

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