Louis XV Clock Circa 1750 The Model Of Jean Joseph De Saint-germain 1719 Paris 1791

Important Louis XV clock circa 1750 The model of Jean Joseph de Saint-Germain 1719 Paris 1791 h. 32 cm, l. 23 cm, p. 16 cm Hanging wire JJ de Saint-Germain was born in Paris in 1719. His father Joseph is a cabinetmaker, specializing in the manufacture of clock cases, and works in the Faubourg-Saint-Antoine; family members on the maternal side work in foundries. Jean-Joseph was both a founder and a watchmaker. It was not until 1750 that he became a master craftsman, after not having belonged to any guild for a long time. His mother Marie-Thérèse came from a famous foundry family, to which Gaspard Prieur belonged and whose most famous member was Jean-Louis Prieur. The high number of artist studios in Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, which were at the service of all types and processes of the luxury industry, makes the choice of JJ de Saint-Germain apartments understandable. In 1745, he lived in the rue de Charenton, probably in the rooms he had rented to the owner Pierre II Migeon in 1747. The inventories drawn up in 1779 after the death of JJ de Saint-Germain's wife describe the interior of his house as a rich furnished upper-class home; the documents also say something about his personality. In 1779, his cabinet adjoins a laboratory and contains drawings and musical scores. Among the books in his library were the writings of Voltaire and Boileau, works of history and geography, as well as works of mineralogy and botany. JJ de Saint-Germain had collections of native and exotic plant seeds in over three thousand glass jars, and in the orangery and greenhouse were countless potted plants. He also collected minerals, seashells, fossils and prepared insects. The importance of the production of clock boxes at de Saint-Germain explains the large number of watchmakers in his clientele - the names of more than 70 of them, from Paris and the provinces, have been found; among them are the most important 18th century watchmakers. Among them are the most important 18th century watchmakers: J. Gudin, JB Dutertre, F. Viger, JB Baillon, M. Stollenwerck, J. and P. Leroy, J. Martin, J. Moisy, F. Berthoud, JP Manière , J. Roques, F. Ageron and many others. JJ de Saint-Germain's clients included the Duchess of Orleans, the Duke of Praislin, the Marquis de Pange, the Marquis d'Eaubonne and Amelot de Gagny - a wealthy financier whose collections are among the most famous of the 18th century. The French royal court purchased several clocks, three of which can be identified with certainty thanks to the inventories of the Garde-Meuble and the Mobilier des Princes. The first is a "mantel clock in gilded bronze with ground gold, on a terrace representing the abduction of Europe, the bull the color of ancient bronze, a nymph and a love". The second is a "chime clock representing Rinoceros carrying the clock and placed on a cabinetry chest lined with gilded bronze with ground gold" - it is probably the clock that belonged to the Duchess of Orleans and sold to the King by his son with the castle of Saint-Cloud in 1785. The third pendulum was the personal property of Queen Marie-Antoinette and is known from the inventory made by Robin in year II. It is about a "pendulum carried by a Rinoceros, posed on terrace gilded in ormoulu, the black animal of smoke carrying on its back a drum in which is the striking movement of the name of JB Baillon". Littré: JD Augarde, Les Ouvriers du temps, Geneva 1996; p. 314 (biographical information on SF Festeau). H. Ottomeyer / P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986; II, pp. 521-535 (biographical data on JJ de Saint-Germain). HL Tardy, Dictionary of French Watchmakers, Paris 1974; p. 508 (biographical data). identical pendulum Pierre Kjellberg, The encyclopedia of the French pendulum, p. 118; Tardy, La Pendule Francaise, p. 166. Inv.no.2.205 4.875 €