France, Louis XVI period – Directory, circa 1795
White enameled dial signed Bourdier
Jean-Simon Bourdier (circa 1760-†1839)
Chased and gilt bronze
White marble
Provenance:
- Former Jean Lanchère de Vaux (1727−1805) collection, present in the inventory after death of the 18 pluviose an XIII (February 7, 1806), lot 488 and in the sale after death, at Paris, Hôtel d’Orrouer, April 16, 1806, lot 47
Close example:
- Jean-Simon Bourdier, Monumental mantel clock Neptune and Diana, 1796, former Balkany collection, private collection
The overall is inserted in a case entireley realised in finely chased and gilt bronze with matte or brownish gold and white marble said, “of Carrara”. The dial, signed Bourdier, indicates the hours in Roman numbers, the minutes by intervals of five and the calendar days in Arabic number with three hands, including two in pierced and gilt copper, and the latest in metal.
The circular box containing the movement of the bell ringing the hours and the half-hours, is surmounted by a cloud sheltering two nude and winged Anemoi, looking at each other.
The composition rests on a quadrangular base, with double dropouts, rounded sides, and a cornice, surrounded by a torus of laurel leaves and a beaded frieze in gilt bronze. The central part is embellished with a reserved bas-relief in gilt bronze representing the Triumph of Amphitrite flanked of two foliaged vertical branches also in reserve. Two garlands of festooned foliage adorn the rounded sides. The base is topped by a second base narrower and concave, surrounded by a beaded frieze and a ribboned frieze, embellished of two bronzes with aquatic vegetal themes in reserve on the sides of the front.
The superior part of the clock, on which rests the dial, is rock-shaped, from where spurts a source in gilt bronze, in a marble basin, flanked of aquatic vegetals. It is surrounded by two seated characters figuring Neptune and Diana. The latter are recognizable with their attributes. Neptune, the God of the sea, is bearded, crowned with aquatic vegetals. He holds a reversed jar, whereas Diana, divinity of the night and the hunt, holds a shell, and is recognizable with the moon crescent, that adorns her head, and the dog at her feet.
This spectacular clock can be distinguished notably by its monumental measurments and overall by her provenance in the 18th century. Jean Lanchère de Vaux (1727−1805) thus possessed two exemplars of this model, this one by Bourdier and another by Deliau.
It is recorded in the inventory after death under the number 488 “[…] a mantel clock of the river & Diana model, marking the hours and the minutes, the movement signed by Bourdier, praised four thousand francs14”.
The Triumph of Amphitrite
The bas-relief which adorns the base of the clock is emblematic of the taste for the marine triumph which animates the finishing 18th century. It represents the Triumph of Amphitrite, the spouse of the God of the sea, Neptune, and the composition can be attached to the renowned bas-relief by Clodion, preserved in Copenhague at the Statens Museum and the different interpretations, which he inspired. The various marine creatures and the impulse given to the subject seems to illustrate almost literary the description of the Triumph of the Amphitrite narrated by Fénelon in the The adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulisses, published in 1699 and taken over without interruption by the artists in the 18th century such as the painter Natoire, Clodion or Joseph-Charles Marin : “ we have seen dolphins, covered with scales which looked like gold and azur (…) After them, came tritons which ringed the trumpet with their recurved conchs (…), the carriage of the goddess Amphitrite was a conch of a marvelous figure (…) a troupe of nymphs, crowned with flowers, swam in crows behind the carriage (…) A large sail floated in the skies above the carriage; it was half bursted by the breath of a multitude of small Anemoi which endeavored to push by their breath”. This theme of the marine triumph knew a great success because it offered the pretext to the setting up of an ambitious composition with multiple figures well characterized.
Jean-Simon Bourdier (circa 1760 – †1839)
Jean-Simon Bourdier was one of the most important Parisian clockmakers who assured the transition between the 18thand the 19th centuries. Having accessed to the Master on the 22nd of September 1787, he knew immediately a great notoriety. The perfection of his mechanisms gave him prestigious commissions including those destined for the King of Spain, Charles IV, and the collaboration with major artists and craftsmen such as the cabinetmakers Jean-Ferdinand Schwerdfeger and Georges Jacob, le chiseler-gilder François Rémond and the painters-enamellers Dubuisson and Coteau. He worked for the merchants of his time, who assured his international notoriety, in particular Daguerre and Julliot.
Jean Lanchère (1727−1805)
From Angoulême, Jean Lanchère made under the Old Regime a remarkable rise up to being appointed Maître des Postes of Versailles thanks to the protection of the Duke of Polignac. Ennobled in 1779, becoming Lord of Vaux (near Angoulême) and of Plaisat, he continued to build a colossal fortune under the Revolution by becoming entrepreneur general des chevaux de l’artillerie, seconded by his eldest son, François, whereas his youngest, Jean-Barthélémy took the charge of the posts of Paris.
Jean Lanchère took in charge in 1796 the army transports of Sambre-et-Meuse et those of the Italian army. The 6 pluviôse an VI, which corresponds to the 25th of January 1798, he bought the castle of Maisons (actual Maisons-Laffitte) for a nominal value of 948 000 francs; he resold it in the an XIII (1804−1805) to the Marshall Lannes, for a real price of 450 000 francs.
Located in Paris, first rue de Seine, Lanchère bought in 1798 to the marquise de Flamarens the Orrouer mansion (actual 87 rue de Grenelle). This is the location in 1806, one year after his death, of the sale. At the lot 47 was first mentioned this clock: “a strong clock in white marble, embellished with allegorical figures and accessories in gold-plated cast iron. This piece, designated under the title of the model of the River and Diana, movement by Bourdier, at Paris.”
Was then described under the lot 48 : “a clock, same model and ornaments than the previous, under the name Eliau, at Paris, marking the phases of the moon, zodiac signs, months of the year, hours, minutes and seconds.” The latter, formerly in the Balkany collection (Sotheby’s Paris sale, 20th of September 2016, lot 52) is signed Deliau on the reverse of the base and bears the date of his commission, 1796.
Bibliography
- Archives Nationales (Marais), « Inventaire après-décès : Lanchère, Jean. Grenne (rue de), n°372/ Versailles (Yvelines), Colonne (place de la)n n°6.Passy, Franklin (rue) », Minutes, an XIII, pluviose, 18 pluviose an XIII (7 février 1805), MC/ET/XLIV/740.
- Louis Bergeron, Banquiers, négociants et manufacturiers parisiens du Directoire à l’Empire, Paris, Mouton Éditeur & École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 1978, p. 345.
- Madeleine Fouché, La poste aux chevaux de Paris et ses maîtres de postes à travers les siècles, Paris, Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1975, pp. 52–59.
- Burton B. Fredericksen, Répertoire des tableaux vendus en France au xixe siècle, Los Angeles, Getty Publications, 1998, vol. 1, p. 33, n° 100.
- Anne L. Poulet, Guilhem Scherf, Clodion, 1738–1814, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1992, pp. 181–183.
- Guilhem Scherf, « Autour de Clodion : variations, répétitions, imitations », Revue de l’Art, n° 91, 1991, p. 47
- François de Salignac de Mothe-Fénelon, Les aventures de Télémaque, livre IV, Paris, chez la Veuve Delaulne, 1730, pp. 80–81.
Measurements:
- Height: 75 cm – 29 ½ inches
- Width: 82 cm – 32 inches
- Depth: 26 cm – 10 ¼ inches
