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Lot Essay
PENDULE ASTRONOMIQUE DE PASSEMANT
The present clock is a replica of the iconic astronomical clock designed by Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755) with Philippe II Caffiéri (1714-1774), the engineer Claude-Siméon Passemant (1702-1769) and clockmaker Louis Dauthiau (1730-1809). The mechanism was made in 1749 and the sculptural rococo case was completed in 1753. When the Duc de Chaulnes presented the clock to Louis XV at the Château de Choisy on 10 October 1753 he described it in his memoires as ‘un miracle de science’. In January 1754 it was moved to a room in Louis XV's private apartments at Versailles and henceforth known as the cabinet à pendule. A masterpiece of clock making combined with an exceptional case, it was technological wonder of the day and a testament to the king's scientific interests in the mechanical arts.
The first replica was made by Carl Dreschler and Charles Crozatier for Lord Hertford (sold Christie's, New York, 19 April 2016, lot 200), however later in the 19th century the bronze master molds would have passed to other ébénistes and other copies of the clock are recorded, including one dated 1883 by Alfred Beurdeley (Vente Beurdeley, 6-9 May 1895, lot 37; see C. Mestdagh, L'Ameublement d'art français: 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, fig. 91, p. 97) and more than one by François Linke. Another replica was shown by Georges Dufayel, businessman and owner of Grands Magasins Dufayel, in a 'Salon Louis XIV' at the Paris 1900 Exposition universelle.
The present clock is a replica of the iconic astronomical clock designed by Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755) with Philippe II Caffiéri (1714-1774), the engineer Claude-Siméon Passemant (1702-1769) and clockmaker Louis Dauthiau (1730-1809). The mechanism was made in 1749 and the sculptural rococo case was completed in 1753. When the Duc de Chaulnes presented the clock to Louis XV at the Château de Choisy on 10 October 1753 he described it in his memoires as ‘un miracle de science’. In January 1754 it was moved to a room in Louis XV's private apartments at Versailles and henceforth known as the cabinet à pendule. A masterpiece of clock making combined with an exceptional case, it was technological wonder of the day and a testament to the king's scientific interests in the mechanical arts.
The first replica was made by Carl Dreschler and Charles Crozatier for Lord Hertford (sold Christie's, New York, 19 April 2016, lot 200), however later in the 19th century the bronze master molds would have passed to other ébénistes and other copies of the clock are recorded, including one dated 1883 by Alfred Beurdeley (Vente Beurdeley, 6-9 May 1895, lot 37; see C. Mestdagh, L'Ameublement d'art français: 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, fig. 91, p. 97) and more than one by François Linke. Another replica was shown by Georges Dufayel, businessman and owner of Grands Magasins Dufayel, in a 'Salon Louis XIV' at the Paris 1900 Exposition universelle.