The drum-shaped case on a spreading rectangular base, the corners hung with garlands, the pounced ormolu face centering an enameled dial around a subdial enameled with the months and their corresponding number of days, surrounded by four subdials for pendulum regulation, date, day, moonphase and lunar date functions, a crescent-shaped aperture at the 6 o'clock position revealing a dial engraved 'REMONTEZ MOY', the case inscribed 'L4805' in ink at underside
15¹⁄₄ in. (39 cm.) high

Probably Michel-Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly, 5th duc de Chaulnes (1714-1769).
With B. Fabre, Paris.
Collection of Frederick P. Victoria and Son; Christie's, New York, 27 May 1999, lot 47.

W. Edey, exhibition catalogue, French Clocks in North American Collections, New York, The Frick Collection, 1982, pp. 49 and 52, no. 42.
D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 265, fig. 207.

New York, The Frick Collection, French Clocks in North American Collections, 2 November 1982 - 30 January 1983, no. 42.

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Lot Essay

This remarkable clock, with its rich amaranth veneers and finely chased rocaille mounts, once in the collection of the noted scientist and amateur mechanical expert, Michel-Ferdinand d'Albert, 5th duc de Chaulnes, displays a remarkable arrangement of dials, which, according to Winthrop Edey in his catalogue to the Frick exhibition, may well be unique. They include the charming feature of an aperture in which a sign engraved with the instruction 'REMONTEZ MOY' appears when the movement requires rewinding.

The movement is attributed by Augarde to the noted horloger Alexis Magny (1712-1793), a prodigious horological talent who at the remarkable age of 22 invented a meridian that was approved by the Academy of Sciences in 1734. A protegé of the duc de Chaulnes, for whom this unusual clock was probably created, he was for many years a mechanic to Bonnier de la Mosson. The duc de Chaulnes, Capitaine des Chevaux-légers de la Garde, was a distinguished mathematician, member of the Académie des Sciences, and of the cultivated inner circle of Madame de Pompadour. His cabinet, filled with ingenious mechanical instruments, rare natural specimens and astronomical clocks reflected his passion for the natural sciences and mechanical arts. This passion was also shared by Louis XV and the two met frequently to discuss their shared interests. In 1750, the duc, upon Madame de Pompadour's recommendation, presented the King with an extraordinary astronomical clock which had taken Claude-Simon Passemant and Louis Duthiau almost 20 years to perfect. It is therefore not surprising that the present cartonnier clock, with its finely-executed case and elaborate movement, was once part of de Chaulnes' collection.