Mechanical Craft around 1800
See also : Time instruments Clocks Jaquet-Droz and followers Watches II Switzerland before 1940 Revolution and Empire Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
Chronology : 1780-1789 1800-1809 1810-1819 1820-1829 1830-1839
Chronology : 1780-1789 1800-1809 1810-1819 1820-1829 1830-1839
1783 Trunk and Ears of the Time Elephant
2012 SOLD 1.6 M£ including premium
At the beginning of the reign of George III, English mechanics are the best in the world. Qianlong knows. The prestige of serving such an illustrious client encourages English watchmakers to create extraordinary pieces.
The musical automaton for sale on July 4 in London by Sotheby's is highly sophisticated. Around 1780, the Swiss have not yet started the trend of songbirds. The main element of the piece is a big elephant that moves its trunk and ears and turns its eyeballs. Standing on the clock, it carries on its back a canopy covered pagoda surmounted by a Catherine wheel. The whole is 102 cm high.
This incredible object, estimated £ 1M, brought out from oblivion the maker who signed it, named Peter Torckler, listed in the commercial registers of London from 1780 to 1783. He thus appears as a skillful contemporary but probably also an unsuccessful competitor of James Cox.
There is no evidence that this piece went to reach China. It was probably in London in the 1890s when it was bought by the Shah of Persia.
POST SALE COMMENT
This piece of large size and extreme rarity was sold £ 1.6 million including premium.
I invite you to discover its main movements in the videos shared by Sotheby's.
The musical automaton for sale on July 4 in London by Sotheby's is highly sophisticated. Around 1780, the Swiss have not yet started the trend of songbirds. The main element of the piece is a big elephant that moves its trunk and ears and turns its eyeballs. Standing on the clock, it carries on its back a canopy covered pagoda surmounted by a Catherine wheel. The whole is 102 cm high.
This incredible object, estimated £ 1M, brought out from oblivion the maker who signed it, named Peter Torckler, listed in the commercial registers of London from 1780 to 1783. He thus appears as a skillful contemporary but probably also an unsuccessful competitor of James Cox.
There is no evidence that this piece went to reach China. It was probably in London in the 1890s when it was bought by the Shah of Persia.
POST SALE COMMENT
This piece of large size and extreme rarity was sold £ 1.6 million including premium.
I invite you to discover its main movements in the videos shared by Sotheby's.
1786 Automaton and Serinette
2015 SOLD for $ 2.53M including premium
Pierre Jaquet-Droz engineered automata in a very high complexity that could include hundreds of mechanical components.
His workshop started in the 1770s the theme of the bird cage that will deserve a great success. The song of the bird is obtained by a miniature mechanical organ named serinette with a unique note per pipe. Six pipes are enough to provide the illusion of a high variety.
In the middle of the next decade, Pierre Jaquet-Droz is associated with his son Henri-Louis and with Jean-Frédéric Leschot and engages the best mechanicians of Geneva including Henri Maillardet and Jacob Frisard. The trend to miniaturization increases and Frisard invents around 1784 the box that throws out the songbird at opening and folds it back at closing.
Success invites for the diversification of models and the integration of these mechanisms in enamelled goldware of highest luxury. The Chinese imperial court is interested in these innovations. From London, the clever entrepreneur James Cox maintains trade relations with the Far East.
On June 11 in New York, Sotheby's sells a sumptuous automaton with an articulated singing bird made by Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Frisard circa 1786 and sold to Cox in 1787, certainly for the Chinese market.
This piece 16 cm high has the shape of a scent flask with its stopper and also incorporates a watch, as it was often the case in this range of products. The size of the bird, 12 mm high, demonstrates the extreme miniaturization achieved by Jaquet-Droz at the time of Frisard.
This automaton is estimated $ 800K, lot 104. It is the first of three Swiss mechanical wonders operated by Sotheby's in the video below:
His workshop started in the 1770s the theme of the bird cage that will deserve a great success. The song of the bird is obtained by a miniature mechanical organ named serinette with a unique note per pipe. Six pipes are enough to provide the illusion of a high variety.
In the middle of the next decade, Pierre Jaquet-Droz is associated with his son Henri-Louis and with Jean-Frédéric Leschot and engages the best mechanicians of Geneva including Henri Maillardet and Jacob Frisard. The trend to miniaturization increases and Frisard invents around 1784 the box that throws out the songbird at opening and folds it back at closing.
Success invites for the diversification of models and the integration of these mechanisms in enamelled goldware of highest luxury. The Chinese imperial court is interested in these innovations. From London, the clever entrepreneur James Cox maintains trade relations with the Far East.
On June 11 in New York, Sotheby's sells a sumptuous automaton with an articulated singing bird made by Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Frisard circa 1786 and sold to Cox in 1787, certainly for the Chinese market.
This piece 16 cm high has the shape of a scent flask with its stopper and also incorporates a watch, as it was often the case in this range of products. The size of the bird, 12 mm high, demonstrates the extreme miniaturization achieved by Jaquet-Droz at the time of Frisard.
This automaton is estimated $ 800K, lot 104. It is the first of three Swiss mechanical wonders operated by Sotheby's in the video below:
1790s Technology Transfer from London to Canton
2010 SOLD 3.8 M$ including premium
The English, always eager to trade, could not ignore China, but the emperors were suspicious. Stepping back in 1757, Qianlong restricted to one area of the port of Guangzhou (Canton) the access authorized to foreigners.
But Qianlong was also a big fan of clocks, a craft where the British were clever. It is told that this emperor owned more than 4,000 clocks, decorated with musical automata. He set up specialized workshops in Beijing and Guangzhou, which started by importing the clockwork from England.
A retrospective look at the extraordinary sale made by Christie's in Hong Kong on May 27, 2008 provides valuable information. The luxury of these imperial table clocks is fabulous.
The most expensive clock, 36 M HK$ including premium, an English piece, was probably one of those introduced to Qianlong by Lord Macartney when he endeavoured to strengthen trade in 1793. Then came at HK $ 34 million a clock mounted in China on an English movement dated about 1771. It is a great demonstration of technology transfer at the end of the eighteenth century.
Echoing the tradition of home auctions, Sotheby's will sell on 8 and 9 June the furnishings of the 45 rooms of the country manor of Mrs. Kluge, in Virginia.
The beautiful table clock with gilt brass and enamel, estimated $ 600K, has been made in the workshops of Guangzhou. The automaton includes a waterfall, and characters who pass a landscape. The mechanism is later.
See this lot, and an overview of the sale, in the article shared by Roving Insight.
POST SALE COMMENT
As good as the superb lots sold in 2008! The clock of Mrs. Kluge is a masterpiece. It was sold $ 3.8 million including premium.
But Qianlong was also a big fan of clocks, a craft where the British were clever. It is told that this emperor owned more than 4,000 clocks, decorated with musical automata. He set up specialized workshops in Beijing and Guangzhou, which started by importing the clockwork from England.
A retrospective look at the extraordinary sale made by Christie's in Hong Kong on May 27, 2008 provides valuable information. The luxury of these imperial table clocks is fabulous.
The most expensive clock, 36 M HK$ including premium, an English piece, was probably one of those introduced to Qianlong by Lord Macartney when he endeavoured to strengthen trade in 1793. Then came at HK $ 34 million a clock mounted in China on an English movement dated about 1771. It is a great demonstration of technology transfer at the end of the eighteenth century.
Echoing the tradition of home auctions, Sotheby's will sell on 8 and 9 June the furnishings of the 45 rooms of the country manor of Mrs. Kluge, in Virginia.
The beautiful table clock with gilt brass and enamel, estimated $ 600K, has been made in the workshops of Guangzhou. The automaton includes a waterfall, and characters who pass a landscape. The mechanism is later.
See this lot, and an overview of the sale, in the article shared by Roving Insight.
POST SALE COMMENT
As good as the superb lots sold in 2008! The clock of Mrs. Kluge is a masterpiece. It was sold $ 3.8 million including premium.
The English Pagoda
2017 SOLD for $ 1M including premium
English clocks and Swiss watches improved by automata are highly valued at the imperial court of the Qing in the late eighteenth century. Some productions are managed specifically for that export, soon superseded by a workshop for the manufacture of automaton clocks in Guangzhou. Unfortunately this industry is poorly documented.
On January 21 in Pittsfield MA, Fontaine's sells an English clock designed to please the Chinese, lot 118 estimated over $ 800K. Here is the link to the press release.
Its shape is inspired by the porcelain tower or pagoda of Nanjing, created at the request of the Yongle emperor of the Ming to be the masterpiece of the Buddhist devotion. This elegant monument destroyed by the Taiping rebels between 1856 and 1860 consisted of nine levels in decreasing surfaces with a total height of 80 meters. It was long the tallest building in the world, located in Nanjing which was the largest city in the world.
The clock for sale was recently found in a basement. It has been cleaned and is in working order. The automaton shrinking the nine levels is triggered every two hours as well as a music made by small bells distributed at all levels executing a tune that was highly popular at the time of the Qing. The total height of the instrument is 1.25 m in the raised position.
This clock is not unique : a similar unit was exhibited in Macao in 2004. We do not know more about its origins, certainly prior to the development of the clock workshops of the Qing. No Chinese imitation is referred in the catalog of the auction house.
For a year Fontaine's has offered some outstanding Chinese clocks. A clock made in Guangzhou at some time in the 19th century was sold for $ 1,27M including premium on May 21, 2016.
Please watch the video shared by Fontaine's to introduce the English pagoda clock :
On January 21 in Pittsfield MA, Fontaine's sells an English clock designed to please the Chinese, lot 118 estimated over $ 800K. Here is the link to the press release.
Its shape is inspired by the porcelain tower or pagoda of Nanjing, created at the request of the Yongle emperor of the Ming to be the masterpiece of the Buddhist devotion. This elegant monument destroyed by the Taiping rebels between 1856 and 1860 consisted of nine levels in decreasing surfaces with a total height of 80 meters. It was long the tallest building in the world, located in Nanjing which was the largest city in the world.
The clock for sale was recently found in a basement. It has been cleaned and is in working order. The automaton shrinking the nine levels is triggered every two hours as well as a music made by small bells distributed at all levels executing a tune that was highly popular at the time of the Qing. The total height of the instrument is 1.25 m in the raised position.
This clock is not unique : a similar unit was exhibited in Macao in 2004. We do not know more about its origins, certainly prior to the development of the clock workshops of the Qing. No Chinese imitation is referred in the catalog of the auction house.
For a year Fontaine's has offered some outstanding Chinese clocks. A clock made in Guangzhou at some time in the 19th century was sold for $ 1,27M including premium on May 21, 2016.
Please watch the video shared by Fontaine's to introduce the English pagoda clock :
1800 Breguet at the Time of the Marie-Antoinette
2016 SOLD for CHF 3.25M including premium
Watch lovers have always enjoyed the instruments of the utmost complexity. In 1783, one of them commissions to Breguet a montre de gousset (pocket watch) with all the complications including among several others the perpetual calendar, chronograph, minute repeater, reserve power indicator and chime.
This enthusiast who played for Breguet a similar role as Graves with Patek Philippe 150 years later was probably the Count Fersen known as a fervent admirer of the Queen of France and the watch was named the Marie-Antoinette. It was completed in 1827, four years after the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Breguet was the most skilful watchmaker of his time and the Marie-Antoinette could be used as a kind of prototype. On May 16 in Geneva, Christie's offers a high complication watch sold new in 1800 of our calendar (An VIII of the Republican calendar) to General Moreau. It is estimated CHF 600K, lot 123.
This pocket watch 55 mm in diameter has the serial number No. 217 of the brand. It is the only example beside the Marie-Antoinette to offer in the same case the perpetual motion and the equation of time.
The perpétuelle is a self winding mechanism with an oscillating weight offering 60 hours of autonomy from the effect of moderate movements of the user, with a protection against shocks on horseback. The equation of time is a correction of the difference between standard and solar times which can reach up to 16 minutes.
This piece does not include the technique of the tourbillon invented by Breguet in 1801. The steadiness is ensured by the échappement libre à ancre (lever escapement), another difficulty that only Breguet knew to overcome.
General Moreau died in the battle of Dresden in 1813. Breguet reacquired the 217 and modernized the dial before selling it in 1817 to Charles-Louis Havas, the financier who became famous for opening in Paris in 1832 the first ever newspaper translation business which became in 1835 his Havas Agency.
This enthusiast who played for Breguet a similar role as Graves with Patek Philippe 150 years later was probably the Count Fersen known as a fervent admirer of the Queen of France and the watch was named the Marie-Antoinette. It was completed in 1827, four years after the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Breguet was the most skilful watchmaker of his time and the Marie-Antoinette could be used as a kind of prototype. On May 16 in Geneva, Christie's offers a high complication watch sold new in 1800 of our calendar (An VIII of the Republican calendar) to General Moreau. It is estimated CHF 600K, lot 123.
This pocket watch 55 mm in diameter has the serial number No. 217 of the brand. It is the only example beside the Marie-Antoinette to offer in the same case the perpetual motion and the equation of time.
The perpétuelle is a self winding mechanism with an oscillating weight offering 60 hours of autonomy from the effect of moderate movements of the user, with a protection against shocks on horseback. The equation of time is a correction of the difference between standard and solar times which can reach up to 16 minutes.
This piece does not include the technique of the tourbillon invented by Breguet in 1801. The steadiness is ensured by the échappement libre à ancre (lever escapement), another difficulty that only Breguet knew to overcome.
General Moreau died in the battle of Dresden in 1813. Breguet reacquired the 217 and modernized the dial before selling it in 1817 to Charles-Louis Havas, the financier who became famous for opening in Paris in 1832 the first ever newspaper translation business which became in 1835 his Havas Agency.
La montre du fondateur de l'AFP mise aux enchères le 16 mai à #Genève https://t.co/SwAls5tk1C #Montres pic.twitter.com/hJFRif0dqp
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) April 8, 2016
1805 Amphora Automaton watch attributed to Piguet et Capt
2002 SOLD for CHF 4M (equivalent at that time to US $ 2.4M) including premium by Antiquorum
1814 Breguet, the Physicist of Time
2012 SOLD 4.3 MCHF including premium
A watchmaker is primarily a physicist. Nothing is simple for reaching the extreme precision required for time measuring scientific instruments. They have to deal with gravity, thermal expansion, and also the irregularities of the sun's apparent motion.
The eighteenth century had highly important mechanics. Abraham-Louis Breguet, micro-mechanical genius, settled into pocket watches the most extraordinary complications of the clocks, and was the inventor of basic concepts such as the tourbillon and the wristwatch.
On May 14 in Geneva, Christie's sells two Breguet watches, each estimated CHF 800K. Both have two main dials, but for quite different reasons.
The earliest, sold in 1814, has two similar and symmetrical complete mechanisms. The idea of the inventor was to compensate the mechanical resonance, a source of error that was a challenge for the watchmakers. This is the first of three watches made by Breguet on this principle. The other two will be provided to the kings of England and France. Here is the link to the catalog.
The complication of the other is even more spectacular. One mechanism provides the official time calculated according to a regular day of 24 hours, and the other mechanism provides real solar time as it was read from sundials at the ground. The motion drift of earth and sun can reach a quarter of an hour, almost repetitively from year to year.
This specimen with the equation of time, sold in 1827, is posthumous. Antoine-Louis Breguet had succeeded his father. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimates. The press release was convincing, and the two Breguet watches are masterpieces from one of the most brilliant periods of watchmaking.
Technically very bold, the watch with two movements from 1814 was sold CHF 4.3 million including premium.
The watch with the equation of time was sold CHF 2.55 million including premium.
The eighteenth century had highly important mechanics. Abraham-Louis Breguet, micro-mechanical genius, settled into pocket watches the most extraordinary complications of the clocks, and was the inventor of basic concepts such as the tourbillon and the wristwatch.
On May 14 in Geneva, Christie's sells two Breguet watches, each estimated CHF 800K. Both have two main dials, but for quite different reasons.
The earliest, sold in 1814, has two similar and symmetrical complete mechanisms. The idea of the inventor was to compensate the mechanical resonance, a source of error that was a challenge for the watchmakers. This is the first of three watches made by Breguet on this principle. The other two will be provided to the kings of England and France. Here is the link to the catalog.
The complication of the other is even more spectacular. One mechanism provides the official time calculated according to a regular day of 24 hours, and the other mechanism provides real solar time as it was read from sundials at the ground. The motion drift of earth and sun can reach a quarter of an hour, almost repetitively from year to year.
This specimen with the equation of time, sold in 1827, is posthumous. Antoine-Louis Breguet had succeeded his father. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimates. The press release was convincing, and the two Breguet watches are masterpieces from one of the most brilliant periods of watchmaking.
Technically very bold, the watch with two movements from 1814 was sold CHF 4.3 million including premium.
The watch with the equation of time was sold CHF 2.55 million including premium.
1820 The Singing Birds of Geneva
2011 SOLD 45.5 MHK$ including premium
Geneva got an important place in art history for its jewelry and its precision mechanical crafts. The pair of singing birds created circa 1820, attributed to Frères Rochat, for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on May 30, is exceptional.
These automata are pistol shaped and their barrels house the hundreds of mechanical components. The decor is exquisite and the materials are precious: gold, enamel, agate, pearl, diamond. They are shown on the release shared by Artdaily.
When the trigger is pulled, the colorful bird leaves at the end of the barrel, turns, opens and closes its wings and beak, sings. After such a work, it returns home.
They are in exceptional condition, as demonstrated by a video on the website of Christie's. Singing bird pistol automaton are very rare, and these are the only remaining specimens that have been kept as a pair. The auction house admits that it is difficult to predict the price of such an absolutely unique lot, and advances a very open estimate range: HK $ 20 to 40M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The prices of lots that are unique of their kind have no limit. Excellent result for this one: HK $ 45.5 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
These automata are pistol shaped and their barrels house the hundreds of mechanical components. The decor is exquisite and the materials are precious: gold, enamel, agate, pearl, diamond. They are shown on the release shared by Artdaily.
When the trigger is pulled, the colorful bird leaves at the end of the barrel, turns, opens and closes its wings and beak, sings. After such a work, it returns home.
They are in exceptional condition, as demonstrated by a video on the website of Christie's. Singing bird pistol automaton are very rare, and these are the only remaining specimens that have been kept as a pair. The auction house admits that it is difficult to predict the price of such an absolutely unique lot, and advances a very open estimate range: HK $ 20 to 40M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The prices of lots that are unique of their kind have no limit. Excellent result for this one: HK $ 45.5 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
1820 Questions for a Magician
2016 SOLD for $ 1.2M including premium
The Swiss automatons amaze us with their mechanical ingenuity. Some charm us with their puzzles. The case of a writer realized around 1800 is famous : once repaired in 1928, this previously anonymous instrument records on its own page: "Ecrit par l'automate de Maillardet".
The magician answers to riddles or performs transformations or escapes. In the former type, the user inserts a tablet in a slot. This action starts the animation and the music which will end after the answer appears on the other side of the picture. These magician boxes are a specialty and maybe even an exclusivity of the brand of Piguet et Meylan.
On June 8 in New York, Sotheby's sells a gold and enamel snuff box concealing an automaton with a magician and a musician. This piece that had belonged to the collection of King Farouk is estimated $ 1.5M, lot 81.
As always, its make had required some specialized craftsmen. The study of punches allows to date it around 1820. The gold work is signed by Chénevard et Jouvet.
This box in perfect condition keeps for its questions five double-sided tablets that are differentiated by the position of an off-centered hole. A tablet is asking "Qui t'a créé ?" When the wand of the magician ceases to oscillate, the automaton responds in a window previously hidden in a tree : "CH Oudin".
The magician box does not however offer the same mystery as the writer of Maillardet : its gild brass movement is inscribed "Chas. Oudin, 52 Palais Royal, Paris" on a backplate.
Charles Oudin was one of the best assistants to Breguet for whom he worked on the mechanism of the equation of time and on the tactile watch before establishing his own business. Its participation in the mechanics of an automaton demonstrates an unexpected encounter between the followers of the two most brilliant mechanical engineers of all time, Jaquet-Droz and Breguet. The magician does not provide the answer to this riddle.
The animation of the magician is demonstrated in the video shared by Sotheby's to announce the sale :
The magician answers to riddles or performs transformations or escapes. In the former type, the user inserts a tablet in a slot. This action starts the animation and the music which will end after the answer appears on the other side of the picture. These magician boxes are a specialty and maybe even an exclusivity of the brand of Piguet et Meylan.
On June 8 in New York, Sotheby's sells a gold and enamel snuff box concealing an automaton with a magician and a musician. This piece that had belonged to the collection of King Farouk is estimated $ 1.5M, lot 81.
As always, its make had required some specialized craftsmen. The study of punches allows to date it around 1820. The gold work is signed by Chénevard et Jouvet.
This box in perfect condition keeps for its questions five double-sided tablets that are differentiated by the position of an off-centered hole. A tablet is asking "Qui t'a créé ?" When the wand of the magician ceases to oscillate, the automaton responds in a window previously hidden in a tree : "CH Oudin".
The magician box does not however offer the same mystery as the writer of Maillardet : its gild brass movement is inscribed "Chas. Oudin, 52 Palais Royal, Paris" on a backplate.
Charles Oudin was one of the best assistants to Breguet for whom he worked on the mechanism of the equation of time and on the tactile watch before establishing his own business. Its participation in the mechanics of an automaton demonstrates an unexpected encounter between the followers of the two most brilliant mechanical engineers of all time, Jaquet-Droz and Breguet. The magician does not provide the answer to this riddle.
The animation of the magician is demonstrated in the video shared by Sotheby's to announce the sale :
#AuctionUpdate: A true Swiss Mechanical Marvel: the King Farouk Magician Box sells for $1,210,000 #SothebysWatches pic.twitter.com/YK1WGKmpPC
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 8, 2016
1831 The Watch of the Arsouille
2013 SOLD 1.02 MCHF including premium
On November 12 in Geneva, Sotheby's sells a Breguet watch delivered in 1831 to Lord Henry Seymour Conway. This extremely flat pocket watch displays a set of complications remarkable for its time including repeating mechanism, indication of power reserve and phases of the moon.
Sold for 7,000 francs, this gold watch was a high-end piece from the best watchmaker of that time. It is now estimated CHF 600K. Here is the link to the catalog.
Only one almost identical specimen is known. In 1827, Breguet had sold it for 7,800 francs to Lord Yarmouth, a brother of Lord Henry. This double commercial act brings us to visit the extravagant world of dandies, the wealthy clients of Breguet.
The father of these two customers was the 3rd Marquess of Hertford, who during the Regency went against a certainly stiff competition to be considered as the greatest depraved in England. In 1802, he took advantage of a truce between France and England to come to Paris that attracted him for the freedom of its pleasures.
The change of regime in France in 1830 did not stop the new anglomania. Around Lord Henry, aristocrats developed a new fashion for horse racing through worldly clubs, without adding the English sporting tradition. Breguet became the supplier of the duc d'Orléans, son of the new king.
Lord Henry became a somewhat mythical character whom the carnival followers nicknamed Milord I'Arsouille, a wording that would have been perfectly suited to his father and does not have the same rough meaning as its equivalent in the English slang.
POST SALE COMMENT
This interesting and ancient watch was sold for CHF 1.02M including premium.
Sold for 7,000 francs, this gold watch was a high-end piece from the best watchmaker of that time. It is now estimated CHF 600K. Here is the link to the catalog.
Only one almost identical specimen is known. In 1827, Breguet had sold it for 7,800 francs to Lord Yarmouth, a brother of Lord Henry. This double commercial act brings us to visit the extravagant world of dandies, the wealthy clients of Breguet.
The father of these two customers was the 3rd Marquess of Hertford, who during the Regency went against a certainly stiff competition to be considered as the greatest depraved in England. In 1802, he took advantage of a truce between France and England to come to Paris that attracted him for the freedom of its pleasures.
The change of regime in France in 1830 did not stop the new anglomania. Around Lord Henry, aristocrats developed a new fashion for horse racing through worldly clubs, without adding the English sporting tradition. Breguet became the supplier of the duc d'Orléans, son of the new king.
Lord Henry became a somewhat mythical character whom the carnival followers nicknamed Milord I'Arsouille, a wording that would have been perfectly suited to his father and does not have the same rough meaning as its equivalent in the English slang.
POST SALE COMMENT
This interesting and ancient watch was sold for CHF 1.02M including premium.
1835 The Clock of the Duc d'Orléans
2012 SOLD 6.8 M$ including premium
The most extraordinary ancient timepiece that was recently sold at auction is the clock of the duc d'Orléans, reaching $ 5.8 million including premium at Sotheby's in New York on 2 December 1999. It is listed again on December 4 by the same auction house. Here is the link to the catalog.
In 1795, Abraham-Louis Breguet imagines the combination of a clock and a watch. This outstanding inventor manages later to achieve this stupendous set known as Breguet Sympathique.
After being used during the day, the watch is repositioned in a cradle at the top of the clock. At midnight, the clock triggers a mechanism that enters the watch, measures and rectifies the error. After a few days, the value of the error is integrated into the beat of the watch and its adjustment becomes automatic.
When Breguet died in 1823, five copies have been made. Only kings can afford to own such an expensive mechanism.
Being an extremely remote cousin of Charles X, Louis Philippe I becomes King of France after a revolution. His eldest son, the duc d'Orléans, is a brilliant prince who would like to live again in the luxury of the Ancien Régime. He commissions his sympathique clock to the Breguet workshop. It is completed in 1835.
Luxury adds to technical feat. 58 cm high, the piece is made in the imitation of Boulle style which is so fashionable in that time, in a cabinet by Bellangé and with Denière bronzes on a design by Questel.
The clock and the watch of this set have not been separated. Having been restored to operation by George Daniels, it provides an exceptional demonstration of one of the most advanced ideas of automatism.
POST SALE COMMENT
Again a great and deserved price for this fabulous clock: $ 6.8 million including premium.
In 1795, Abraham-Louis Breguet imagines the combination of a clock and a watch. This outstanding inventor manages later to achieve this stupendous set known as Breguet Sympathique.
After being used during the day, the watch is repositioned in a cradle at the top of the clock. At midnight, the clock triggers a mechanism that enters the watch, measures and rectifies the error. After a few days, the value of the error is integrated into the beat of the watch and its adjustment becomes automatic.
When Breguet died in 1823, five copies have been made. Only kings can afford to own such an expensive mechanism.
Being an extremely remote cousin of Charles X, Louis Philippe I becomes King of France after a revolution. His eldest son, the duc d'Orléans, is a brilliant prince who would like to live again in the luxury of the Ancien Régime. He commissions his sympathique clock to the Breguet workshop. It is completed in 1835.
Luxury adds to technical feat. 58 cm high, the piece is made in the imitation of Boulle style which is so fashionable in that time, in a cabinet by Bellangé and with Denière bronzes on a design by Questel.
The clock and the watch of this set have not been separated. Having been restored to operation by George Daniels, it provides an exceptional demonstration of one of the most advanced ideas of automatism.
POST SALE COMMENT
Again a great and deserved price for this fabulous clock: $ 6.8 million including premium.