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Lot Essay
This elegant clock closely relates to the refined goût Grec designs of the dessinateur and bronzier Jean-Louis Prieur (1732-95). Although they were disseminated through several editions of engraved plates from the late 1760s to a much wider audience, Prieur’s were in many cases proposals submitted for a specific intent within a defined commission.
Interestingly, one of Prieur’s drawings for a closely related clock is in the National Museum Warsaw (reproduced here) which may suggest that it was part of a celebrated commission on behalf of Stanislas August, the King of Poland (1764-98). Upon his election to the throne in 1764, August initiated an extensive program of renovation and modernization at the Royal palace in Warsaw. With the help of the French architect Victor Louis and the influential amateur Madame Geoffrin, he proceeded to furnish the palace in the latest goût Grec style. Acquisitions were made in Paris in 1764 by the King's agent Casimir Czempinski who was directed to purchase only the most fashionable items. Czempinski conscientiously reported to the King that dans tous les achats que je fais, je donne la préferènce au bel antique, au Grec dessin’' (S. Lorentz, 'Victor Louis et Varsovie’, Revue Historique de Bordeaux et du departement de la Gironde, January-March 1958, p. 9). Prieur was among the celebrated artisans contracted for the scheme which also included the goldsmith Franois-Thomas Germain, the painter Jean Pillement, and Philippe Caffieri. Prieur and Caffieri seem to have received the largest share of the commission for ornamental bronzes such as clocks, fire-dogs, barometers, and wall-lights delivered between 1766 and the early 1770s.
Other clocks that relate to this design include one in the Frick Collection, New York (‘French Clocks in North American Collections,’ The Frick Collection November 2-1982-January 30, 1983 Exhibition Catalogue, p. 81 fig. 71) and another in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon inventory 2242 (H. Ottomeyer and P. Proschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 167, fig. 3.4.5).
Interestingly, one of Prieur’s drawings for a closely related clock is in the National Museum Warsaw (reproduced here) which may suggest that it was part of a celebrated commission on behalf of Stanislas August, the King of Poland (1764-98). Upon his election to the throne in 1764, August initiated an extensive program of renovation and modernization at the Royal palace in Warsaw. With the help of the French architect Victor Louis and the influential amateur Madame Geoffrin, he proceeded to furnish the palace in the latest goût Grec style. Acquisitions were made in Paris in 1764 by the King's agent Casimir Czempinski who was directed to purchase only the most fashionable items. Czempinski conscientiously reported to the King that dans tous les achats que je fais, je donne la préferènce au bel antique, au Grec dessin’' (S. Lorentz, 'Victor Louis et Varsovie’, Revue Historique de Bordeaux et du departement de la Gironde, January-March 1958, p. 9). Prieur was among the celebrated artisans contracted for the scheme which also included the goldsmith Franois-Thomas Germain, the painter Jean Pillement, and Philippe Caffieri. Prieur and Caffieri seem to have received the largest share of the commission for ornamental bronzes such as clocks, fire-dogs, barometers, and wall-lights delivered between 1766 and the early 1770s.
Other clocks that relate to this design include one in the Frick Collection, New York (‘French Clocks in North American Collections,’ The Frick Collection November 2-1982-January 30, 1983 Exhibition Catalogue, p. 81 fig. 71) and another in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon inventory 2242 (H. Ottomeyer and P. Proschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 167, fig. 3.4.5).