Pendulum Representing Prudence

Pendulum representing Prudence in gilded and chiseled bronze resting on a blackened wooden base. The clock rests on four small gilded bronze feet. Movement of “Causard clockmaker of the king - Next at court” After a drawing by Antoine Foullet Louis XVI period Usual restorations H. 32 x L. 29 x D. 13 cm The clock in our study is a model having was designed by the carpenter Antoine Foullet (master in 1749, died in 1775). Why a carpenter? We can indeed question ourselves as it is a work in bronze and what is more, is a clock. Antoine Foullet worked particularly for watchmakers (making cases) and was probably a merchant on the Parisian market. A drawing of the latter is preserved in the “Collection of drawings - Models of pendulums, years 1755-1780” identified under number 34 and preserved in the INHA library (Jacques Doucet collection). The model represents Prudence recognized thanks to its attributes: the mirror (symbol of predicting the future and knowing oneself) and the snake. This clock is also sometimes identified as Cleopatra. Several pendulums with the same composition or very close are known to us. We can cite a clock reproduced in Pierre Kjellberg's book “Encyclopédie de la pendule française” (Editions de l'Amateur), another preserved by the Louvre Museum but exhibited at the Hôtel de la Marine, or yet another preserved at the Pavlosk Palace in Saint Petersburg. The archives also mention clocks that seem almost identical to ours. Indeed, on the occasion of the March 1, 1784 sale of the Comte de Merle, the catalog listing the lots names a Prudence clock where Baillon, ordinary valet-watchmaker of the dauphine Marie-Antoinette, left his signature on the dial. The watchmaker of our clock is called Edmée-Jean Causard (1720-1780). He was first a free worker, then became a “privileged watch merchant to the king” in 1753. He specialized in clocks. Whether by looking at the different artists who intervened or by savoring the other clocks of this model in the collections of institutions, the clock in our study is particularly captivating.