France, Louis XV period, mid of the 18th century
Attributed to Robert Osmond (1711- 1789)
Dial and movement signed “Viger a Paris” and “Viger A Paris no. 743”
Gilt and patinated bronze
Provenance:
- Madame de Polès, sale Galerie Charpentier in Paris, 17–18 November 1936, lot 151 (sold to Frey)
- Sanders Collection
Similar examples:
- Robert Osmond, Mantel clock with the abduction of Europa, Château d’Aschaffenburg
- Attributed to Robert Osmond for the bronze and Etienne II Le Noir for the movement, Mantel clock with the abduction of Europa, Malibu, Getty Museum Malibu (inv.73.DB.85)
Close examples:
- Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain for the bronze and Gilles l’Aîné for the movement, Mantel clock with the abduction of Europa, Paris, Musée du Louvre, deposit at the Château de Versailles (inv. OA 5168)
- Jolly, Mantel clock with the abduction of Europa, circa 1750–1760, Cambridge, Musée Fitzwilliam (inv. MAR.M.205‑1912)
- Robert Osmond, Mantel clock with the abduction of Europa, circa 1750–1760, Royal collection Trust (inv. RCIN 30424)
Characteristic of the picturesque models of the Louis XV period, our work combines a running bull, a raised foreleg, the placid attitude resting on a rockery base treated naturally on leafy volutes and three female figures. He carries on his back the movement held by a strap fixed under the chest.
The representation of the latter refers directly to the abduction of Europa, one of the metamorphoses used by Zeus to abduct Europa, the daughter of the king of Phoenicia.
The body housing the movement is topped by a young woman holding a garland. The high quality of this clock also appears on the back, finely pierced with foliage scrolls. The white enamelled dial shows the hours in Roman numerals, the minutes in Arabic numerals and bears the Viger à Paris signature, reproduced in handwriting on the counter-enamel.
The bull clock craze
The 18th century was marked by an important craze for exoticism, particularly during the reign of Louis XV. Fascinated by faraway countries and their fauna, the vogue for chinoiseries and animal clocks was considerable. The latter, elephants, dromedaries, rhinoceroses, lions … discovered through the King of Siam who, in 1686, offered some to Louis XIV, quickly inspired the bronze-makers. The attraction for the European fauna, if it is more discreet, is however not absent, especially when it can be assimilated to the ancient legend like the bull.
The great bronze-makers of the time such as Robert Osmond and Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain took hold of this animal by multiplying the decorative effects; thus certain large models present two young women next to the bull, as is the case of the clock signed by Saint-Germain, with a dial by Gilles l’Aîné, preserved in the Grand Cabinet of Madame Victoire at the Château de Versailles (deposit of the Louvre Museum in 1975) where it was in 1784 according to the Inventaire des Pendules du Roy drawn up the same year, a “mantelpiece clock in ground gold gilt bronze representing the Abduction from Europa, 21 inches high by 18 inches wide”.
Our model follows the same principle, but the bull is pointing to the right while it is pointing to the left in the Louvre model signed Saint-Germain.
Robert Osmond (1711−1789)
Robert Osmond (1711−1789) can be considered one of the most important Parisian bronze-makers of the second half of the 18th century.
Born in Normandy, in Canisy, near Saint-Lô in 1711, Robert Osmond apprenticed in the workshop of Louis Regnard, Maître Fondeur en Terre et en Sable, and was received as Master Fondeur-ciseleur in 1746. Recognized by his peers, he was named juror of his corporation in 1756.
In 1753, his nephew Jean-Baptiste Osmond (1742-after 1790) left Normandy to join him. The latter, who became Master in 1764, worked after that date with his uncle; their collaboration was so close that it is difficult to distinguish between the contributions of one and the other.
Robert Osmond’s activity took place between the late 1740s and the mid 1770s, since in 1781 he was appointed older master founder. Jean-Baptiste, who continued to run the workshop after his uncle’s departure, soon ran into difficulties and went bankrupt in 1784. His uncle Robert died in 1789.
Prolific bronzers and chiselers, who first distinguished themselves in the Rococo style in the early 1760s, the Osmonds were able to adapt to the new neoclassical style.
Although they produced all sorts of furniture bronzes (firedogs, wall lights and inkstands), they are best known for having left their name on a fairly large number of clocks and cartels which movements were entrusted to the greatest watchmakers of the time such as Jacques Lepaute, Ferdinand Berthoud, Julien Le Roy, Jacques Lepaute and Robert Robin.
His works were particularly prized by great collectors and aristocrats. The famous financier Beaujon and the Duc de Choiseul-Praslin thus owned clocks and cartels of his production. They also worked for one of the greatest 18th century marchand mercier, Mr. Lazare-Duvaux, and through him delivered works for Louis XV destined for the Château de Saint-Hubert and the Tuileries.
Evocative of the Osmonds’ talent, this clock illustrates the inventiveness of the Osmonds, who were able to offer new models that adapted to the recent craze for clocks with animal motifs. The chiseling of the latter also testifies to the excellence of the work of these artists who have attained the highest level of mastery of their art.
François Viger (circa 1708–1784)
Watchmaker, François Viger was a free worker in 1733. He was received Master on August 8, 1744, by a decree of July 17, 1774, relieving him of his lack of apprenticeship.
Partially trained by Louis Jouard, Viger was a notable clock maker and merchant. The pieces that came out of his workshop were of perfect quality. He was one of the main customers of Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain, Balthazar Lieutaud, Antoine Foullet, Robert and Jean-Baptiste Osmond, Robert Morlay. Amongst his clients was the Duc de Belle-Isle.
Madame de Polès
The sale of Madame de Polès’ collection, which took place at Galerie Georges Petit in 1927 and Galerie Charpentier in 1936, was a landmark event for the French Fine and Decorative Arts market, comprising historic works by Fragonard, Boucher and Hubert Robert alongside masterpieces by the best 18th century cabinetmakers such as André-Charles Boulle, Martin Carlin, Jean-Henri Riesener, David Roentgen and R.V.L.C (Roger Vandercruse).
Bibliography
- Jean-Dominique Augarde, Les Ouvriers de Temps, Paris, Éditions Antiquorum, 1996.
- Charissa Bremer-David, Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1993, p. 90, no. 140.
- Burton B. Fredericksen, Jiří Frel, Gillian Wilson, Guidebook: The J. Paul Getty Museum. 4th ed. Sandra Morgan, ed., Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1978, p. 100–1, ill.
- Pierre Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française, du Moyen Age au xxe siècle, Paris, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, 1997, p.132–133.
- Hans Ottomeyer et Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Tome I, Munchen, Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1986, p.125, fig.2.8.7.
- Gillian Wilson, European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996, p. 102–107, n°14.
- Adrian Sassoon, Gillian Wilson, Decorative Arts: A Handbook of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986, p. 41, no. 88.
- Gillian Wilson, Decorative Arts in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1977, p. 51, 59, no. 67.
- Gillian Wilson, Clocks: French Eighteenth-Century Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1976, p. 56–59, no. 11.
- Tardy, La Pendule Française. vol. 1, Paris, Tardy, p. 172, ill. 3.
Measurements:
- Height: 21 ¾ inches – 55,2 cm
- Width: 17 ½ inches – 44,5 cm
- Depth: 8 ½ inches – 21,5 cm
