Clocks and automata match together: it was tempting for the clockmaker to attract the attention of viewers to animated figures at pre-set times. Old pieces, dating from before the restart of automata in Switzerland by Jaquet-Droz, have however become extremely rare.
On October 15, 2014 in Paris, Jean-Claude Renard sells an altar clock topped by a large musical automaton as voluminous as the clock proper, lot 209 in the catalogue shared by the bidding platform Interencheres, estimated beyond € 80K. Together, these two bodies in painted wood measure 120 x 64 x 55 cm, on a base 138 cm high.
The ecclesiastical origin of this piece makes no doubt: the automaton animates God, the Angel of the Annunciation, Madonna and Child, the Magi and Adam and Eve, and once belonged to the chapel of the Palazzo Fieschi in Genoa.
The author, the manufacturing location and the date have not been identified, but the movement is comparable to a clock made in 1706 by Morand for Louis XIV.
The clock and the automata are in working condition, as demonstrated by the specialist Denis Corpechot in the video below, shared by Interencheres on Vimeo. I also invite you to read the article published in French by Interencheres.
On October 15, 2014 in Paris, Jean-Claude Renard sells an altar clock topped by a large musical automaton as voluminous as the clock proper, lot 209 in the catalogue shared by the bidding platform Interencheres, estimated beyond € 80K. Together, these two bodies in painted wood measure 120 x 64 x 55 cm, on a base 138 cm high.
The ecclesiastical origin of this piece makes no doubt: the automaton animates God, the Angel of the Annunciation, Madonna and Child, the Magi and Adam and Eve, and once belonged to the chapel of the Palazzo Fieschi in Genoa.
The author, the manufacturing location and the date have not been identified, but the movement is comparable to a clock made in 1706 by Morand for Louis XIV.
The clock and the automata are in working condition, as demonstrated by the specialist Denis Corpechot in the video below, shared by Interencheres on Vimeo. I also invite you to read the article published in French by Interencheres.
unsold in October 2014
SOLD for € 50K before fees in May 2015
This clock has been SOLD by Jean Havin in Oizon, France, on May 17, 2015, lot 158 in the catalogue shared by the bidding platform Invaluable.
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