Lot 327: A LOUIS XVIII ORMOLU-MOUNTED SEVRES PORCELAIN MANTEL CLOCK

A LOUIS XVIII ORMOLU-MOUNTED SEVRES PORCELAIN MANTEL CLOCK
1820, DESIGNED BY JEAN-CHARLES-FRANÇOIS LELOY, THE PLAQUES PAINTED BY JEAN-BAPTISTE IGNACE ZWINGER, THE ORMOLU BY BOQUET
The circular white enamelled dial with Roman chapters signed J.J./Lepaute/Hr. du Roi & de la Ville/Rue St. Honoré No. 247 within a foliate-cast surround, the pylon-form case surmounted by a later vase with male mask-cast handles on a plinth inscribed DUM LOQUOR HORA FUGIT, ovide /LE MOMENT Où JE PARLE EST DéJà LOIN DE MOI, Boileau, the cresting cast with stars, over a frieze centering a panel decorated with a reclining water nymph, the case decorated with putti over a floral festoon above the goddess Leto and her two children Apollo and Diana, among foliate scrolls with frogs, the angles mounted with ribbed tapering columnar uprights, the sides with palmettes and foliate clasps, on a leaf-tip-cast base, above a palmette centered apron, on foliate-cast hoofed feet, the porcelain plaques with Sévres marks of interlaced Ls enclosing a fleur-de-lys and Sèvres above 20, one stencilled AN in red and incised Mo 6
26in. (66cm.) high, 14in. (35.5cm.)wide, 8in. (20cm.) deep

Musée Royale (Louvre), Paris Exposition de la Manufacture Royale de Sèvres, 1 January 1821

P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 370, fig. A

Given by Louis XVIII to the duc d'Angoulême in 1821.
Baron Achille Seillière, Paris.
Frederick J. and Antoinette H. Van Slyke, Baltimore, Maryland; sold Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1989, lot 103.
Nancy Richardson; sold Christie's New York, 23 October 1998, lot 40 (sold after the sale).

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION
(LOT 327)

A GIFT FROM LOUIS XVIII TO THE DUC D'ANGOULEME

Design for this clock by Jean-Charles-François Leloy, 1820.

HISTORY OF THE CLOCK
This clock was designed by Jean-Charles-François Leloy, designer at the Sèvres Manufactory from 1816-1844. The drawing, reproduced here, is now in the Sèvres achives and was registered on March 1, 1820, described as pendule A, 2ème grandeur. His design was in part inspired by the model of clock designed by Charles Percier for Sèvres in 1813 (M. Brunet and T. Préaud, Sèvres, des origines à nos jours, P. 306, no. 436). Another clock, of identical shape and ormolu decoration, designed for Sèvres by Leloy in 1831, placed in the Grand Trianon in 1839, is illustrated D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Paris, 1975, pp. 199-200. All details of the production of this clock are precisely recorded. The Sèvres plaques were made by Bacquet in April 1820. In May the plaques were passed to Pierre Huard who painted the ornamental decoration and in June they were passed on to Jean-Baptiste Ignace Zwinger who painted the figures. The painting was finished by September. The ormolu mounts were cast, chased and gilded at the Manufactory under the supervision of the bronzier Boquet. The clock was finished by 22 December 1820 at a cost of 2087 francs, including 122 francs to Leloy for his drawing, 350 francs to Zwinger, 530 francs to Huard, 151 francs for the porcelain plaques and 825 francs for the ormolu mounts. The clock was exhibited at the Louvre in 1821, listed as no. 11 Une pendule de chéminée, en plaques de porcelaine peintes, montée en bronze doré. Fond blanc, figures et ornements coloriés, relatif à Latone, mère d'Apollon (le soleil) et de Diane (la lune). After the exhibition, the clock was purchased by Louis XVIII for 2500 francs to give as a gift to the duc d'Angoulême as witnessed by the following entry in the Sèvres registry:
Livreé par ordre du roi à la suite de l'exposition à SAR
Mg le duc d'Angoulême, no. 15415, 1 pendule de cheminée montée en bronze doré fonds blanc figures et ornements coloriés relatif à Latone - 2.500.
LETO
Leto, as related in Ovid's Metamorphoses, was the mother of Apollo and Diana. Thirsty after a long journey, she stopped beside a lake in Lycia but was prevented from drinking by peasants working the osier beds. As a punishment she turned them into frogs. Juno, jealous that Jupiter was the father of both of Leto's children, sent a snake which may be represented by those depicted on the sides of the clock.
J.J. LEPAUTE
Jean-Joseph Lepaute (1768-1846), from a distinguished dynasty of clockmakers, recorded at the Place du Palais-Royal, the rue de Richelieu in 1820, and by 1821 at 247 rue Saint Honoré. He was horloger du Roi and horloger de la chambre des Députés.