拍品专文
Three clocks of this model are recorded in the 18th Century with the signature of Julien Le Roy.
The first was purchased shortly after 1764 by the celebrated collector Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully (1725-1779). Although not mentioned in the Catalogue historique du cabinet de peinture et sculpture françoise de M. de Lalive published in 1764, the clock is succinctly described in the sale of his collection on 5 March 1770, where it stood on the cartonnier of the bureau plat now at Chantilly:
'Il y a dessus une pendule en forme de vase, dont le mouvement est de Julien Le Roi'. The clock was sold for 830 livres.
The second clock of this model recorded in the 18th Century is described in detail in the duc de La Vrillière's bedroom in his hôtel particulier in the Place de la Concorde, on the corner of the rue Saint-Florentin in 1777. This house, occcupied for a considerable time by the Rothschilds, is now the Consulate of the United States of America. It is described as:-
une pendule à éguilles marquant les heures et les minutes, sonnerie, cadran d'émail marqué du nom de Julien Leroy dans son vase antique terminé par une pomme de pin orné de peaux de lion sur son socle orné de guirlandes de feuilles de chêne, le tout de bronze doré d'or moulu, prisée 600 livres
The third example is recorded in 1787 in the Palais de l'Elysée, at that date occupied by Nicolas Beaujon, banquier de la Cour and now the résidence of the French President. The clock is described in the former salle du Dais:
une pendule, mouvement de Julien Le Roy, dans un vase de bronze couvert, à pomme de pin et cannelures, le milieu à avant-corps à rosasse: les côtés à forts mufles de lion, avec anneaux sur son piédouche, terminé par une base à guirlandes de feuilles de chêne et socle uni en bronze doré, hauteur 24 pouces.
(J. Coural, L'Elysée, Délégation à L'Action Artistique de la ville de Paris, p. 31 onwards). This clock was sold for 745 livres to the banker's nephew.
Thus, although a clock of this model with movement by Julien Le Roy is recorded at three different dates, namely in 1770, 1777 and 1787, this does not prove that as many as three examples existed. It is possible that the Lalive de Jully clock was bought by either Beaujon or la Vrillière, both of whom were important figures of their time, one living in a house redecorated by Boullée, the other in a house built by Chalgrin in 1769-70.
Apart from the present clock, only one other example of this model with movement by Julien Le Roy is known today. This clock, identical in every way, was sold in Paris on the 27-28 November 1934 and bought thirty years later by the Musée Condé, Chantilly, where it is on display.
THE OSMOND DYNASTY OF MAITRE-FONDEURS
The authorship of this model of clock can confidently be attributed to Robert Osmond. The first of two generations of maître-fondeurs, Robert Osmond was an important figure in the guild. Maître-fondeur en terre et sable from 1746 and appointed juré des fondeurs in 1756, he was a co-signatory of the 1766 founders' charter. A friend of Caffiéri, amongst others, Osmond was one of the first to embrace the new Classical style and as a result, his atelier flourished in the early 1760s. Assisted by his nephew Jean-Bapiste Osmond, maître-fondeur in 1764, who succeeded him on his death in 1789, the Osmonds included most of the avant-garde elite of French society amongst their clients. They worked closely with a number of clockmakers including Lepaute, Hilgers, Fréderic Duval and Berthoud.
JULIEN LE ROY AND HIS SON
The movement of this clock was most probably made by the son of Julien Le Roy. Pierre Le Roy (died 1785), horloger du Roi, was apprenticed to his father and worked all his life in his father's workshop. Upon his father's death in 1759 he took over control but continued to use his father's name to sign his oeuvre (La dynastie des Le Roy, horlogers du Roi, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1987, p. 27 onwards).
The first was purchased shortly after 1764 by the celebrated collector Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully (1725-1779). Although not mentioned in the Catalogue historique du cabinet de peinture et sculpture françoise de M. de Lalive published in 1764, the clock is succinctly described in the sale of his collection on 5 March 1770, where it stood on the cartonnier of the bureau plat now at Chantilly:
'Il y a dessus une pendule en forme de vase, dont le mouvement est de Julien Le Roi'. The clock was sold for 830 livres.
The second clock of this model recorded in the 18th Century is described in detail in the duc de La Vrillière's bedroom in his hôtel particulier in the Place de la Concorde, on the corner of the rue Saint-Florentin in 1777. This house, occcupied for a considerable time by the Rothschilds, is now the Consulate of the United States of America. It is described as:-
une pendule à éguilles marquant les heures et les minutes, sonnerie, cadran d'émail marqué du nom de Julien Leroy dans son vase antique terminé par une pomme de pin orné de peaux de lion sur son socle orné de guirlandes de feuilles de chêne, le tout de bronze doré d'or moulu, prisée 600 livres
The third example is recorded in 1787 in the Palais de l'Elysée, at that date occupied by Nicolas Beaujon, banquier de la Cour and now the résidence of the French President. The clock is described in the former salle du Dais:
une pendule, mouvement de Julien Le Roy, dans un vase de bronze couvert, à pomme de pin et cannelures, le milieu à avant-corps à rosasse: les côtés à forts mufles de lion, avec anneaux sur son piédouche, terminé par une base à guirlandes de feuilles de chêne et socle uni en bronze doré, hauteur 24 pouces.
(J. Coural, L'Elysée, Délégation à L'Action Artistique de la ville de Paris, p. 31 onwards). This clock was sold for 745 livres to the banker's nephew.
Thus, although a clock of this model with movement by Julien Le Roy is recorded at three different dates, namely in 1770, 1777 and 1787, this does not prove that as many as three examples existed. It is possible that the Lalive de Jully clock was bought by either Beaujon or la Vrillière, both of whom were important figures of their time, one living in a house redecorated by Boullée, the other in a house built by Chalgrin in 1769-70.
Apart from the present clock, only one other example of this model with movement by Julien Le Roy is known today. This clock, identical in every way, was sold in Paris on the 27-28 November 1934 and bought thirty years later by the Musée Condé, Chantilly, where it is on display.
THE OSMOND DYNASTY OF MAITRE-FONDEURS
The authorship of this model of clock can confidently be attributed to Robert Osmond. The first of two generations of maître-fondeurs, Robert Osmond was an important figure in the guild. Maître-fondeur en terre et sable from 1746 and appointed juré des fondeurs in 1756, he was a co-signatory of the 1766 founders' charter. A friend of Caffiéri, amongst others, Osmond was one of the first to embrace the new Classical style and as a result, his atelier flourished in the early 1760s. Assisted by his nephew Jean-Bapiste Osmond, maître-fondeur in 1764, who succeeded him on his death in 1789, the Osmonds included most of the avant-garde elite of French society amongst their clients. They worked closely with a number of clockmakers including Lepaute, Hilgers, Fréderic Duval and Berthoud.
JULIEN LE ROY AND HIS SON
The movement of this clock was most probably made by the son of Julien Le Roy. Pierre Le Roy (died 1785), horloger du Roi, was apprenticed to his father and worked all his life in his father's workshop. Upon his father's death in 1759 he took over control but continued to use his father's name to sign his oeuvre (La dynastie des Le Roy, horlogers du Roi, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1987, p. 27 onwards).