A REGENCE BOULLE PEDESTAL CLOCKATTRIBUTED TO BERNARD I VAN RISENBURGH PERE

A REGENCE ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY, BROWN TORTOISESHELL, MOTHER OF PEARL AND PLOYCHROME BOULLE PEDESTAL CLOCK, ATTRIBUTED TO BERNARD I VAN RISENBURGH PERE.

Inlaid overall with strapwork panels of scrolling foliage and flowers the circular cabochon-enamelled dial with both Roman and Arabic chapters centered by foliate chasing, signed Rabby a Paris to both dial and movement, the foliate-trailed case with a central Apollo mask and domed canopy surmounted by a seated Putto emblematic of Athena in armour flanked by female Caryatids to each side, the glazed door with a relief of Prudence seated in her chariot, on scrolled foliate feet with grotesque masks, the tapering pedestal base with an Anthemion strapwork base band and waisted top with laurel-wreathed with espagnolette-masks to the angels issuing from acanthus foliage, above a strapwork band and a central fan with husk-tails, the rectangular tapering panel with winged maidens suspending a canopy over a cockerel and with two eagles suspending a canopy over Minerva, flanked by canted foliate-trailed angles and the sides with Apollo, Diana and Jupiter Masks with their relevant attributes, the spreading socle with acanthus angles and a fluted rim above the stepped and lambrequined plinth with foliate band, restorations, one mount incised BII and the seated Putto-Finial re-supported.

Height: 113 in (287 cm)Width: 27.5 in (70 cm)Depth: 11.5 in (29 cm)

Provenance

The Viscounts Hampden Hampden House, Green Street, London until sold by the widow of the 3rd Viscount Hampden Christies, 18 April 1834, lot 112.

The Marquises of Linlithgow, Hopetoun House, South Queensferry, Scotland thence by descent at Hopetoun until sold by the 3rd Marquess of Linlithgow on 26 November 1970, lot 13, Christies, London.

Alexander and Berendt, London

Literature

J.D.Augarde and J.N.Ronfort, “Le Maitre du Bureau de L’Electeur,” L’Estampille/L’Objet d’Art, January 1991, p. 69, fig. 25.

J.D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Antiquorum Editions, 1996, p. 48, fig. 29

This bracket clock and its pedestal displau two identical ormolu mounts to the celebrated bureau a pendule made for Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726): the espagnolettes heading the cabriole legs of the bureau feature on the corners of the pedestal and the

caryatic herms flank the dial on both clocks. This bureau has traditionally been attributed to Andrew-Charles Boulle: however the research of J.N. Ronfort and J.D. Augarde conclusively proved that the author was in fact Ebeniste Bernard I van Risenburgh. (J.N. Ronfort and J.D. Augarde, “Le Maitre du Bureau de L’Electeur,” L’Estampille/L’Objet d’Art, January 1991, pp. 42-75.)

This clock and its pedestal represent the missing link between the first pieces produced by Bernard I van Risengurgh’s workshop around 1695 and those, such as the bureau l’Electeur, dating after 1715. There are only two other documented bracket clocks of this model, one in premiere partie, was sold by Lt. Col. William Stirling of Keir, Sotheby’s London, 12 July 1963, Lot 134. The other was sold from the collection of Mrs. Elizabeth Parke Firestone, Christie’s, New York, 22023 March 1991, lot 890. A single pedestal was sold anonymously in Paris, Palais d’Orsay, 21 February 1978, lot 74.

All the pedestals are embellished with berainesque marquetry, the scrolling foliage, birds and animals under canopies, with urns and masks being recurring motifs. They can be found en partie on bureaux and tables from the earliest productions pf the atelier. The marquetry of the upper section on all the pedestals is similar to that which occurs on the back door of a clock with movement by Thuret in the Wallace Collection. (F.J.B.Watson, Catalogue, London 1956, F. 40.)

Francois Rabby

Francois Rabby (1655-circa 1720), was appointed Maitre Horloger between 1686 and 1688. In 1686, he married the widow of the Horloger, Corneille Godefroy (d. 1681) and in the same year he was appointed horloger de la Duchess d’Orleans. His other clients included la Duchess du Maine and also the painter Nicolas Largilliere. He was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1718 for allowing his daughter to marry a Huguenot from Geneva in the English Ambassador’s chapel.