PENDULE "AUX CYGNES À CERCLES TOURNANTS" Louis... Lot 1187

PENDULE "AUX CYGNES À CERCLES TOURNANTS" Louis XVI, Paris circa 1780. The movement probably replaced in the second half of the 19th century, marked Marti & Cie. Griotte rouge marble and bronze gilded and silvered. Vase-shaped case with indented lid, openworked with flowers, supported by two swans with flower garland in their beaks on a round stepped base with crimped feet. The base wall with a gilded relief of a dancing round dance with a figure of a cupid. Decorated by pearl sticks, flowers and leaf friezes. Two white, horizontally rotating enamel numerals for the Roman hour and Arabic minute numerals. Later movement with balance wheel and half hour strike on bell. 1 key. D approx. 21 cm, H 52 cm. Small chips on the marble. Provenance: -Collection François-Marie Taillepied (1802-1890) Auction Galerie Durand-Ruel 'Beaux Meubles et Bronzes d'Ameublement'. 11 rue Le Pelletier, Paris, 21-22 May 1891 (lot 95, no illus.) -Auction Galerie Georges Petit 'Objets d'Art et d'Ameublement' Collection de M. H. Beéche, Paris 9 May 1904 (lot 95, with illus. p. 27 in the catalogue) Collection Léon Michel-Lévy (1846-1925), acquired at the above auction. Collection Galerie Au balancier de cristal, Paris 1949. -Since then private property France The present swan pendulum "à cercles tournants" not only captivates with its wonderful aesthetics and high level of craftsmanship, but also shows a notable history of ownership. The provenance can be traced back to the collection of the French politician François-Marie Taillepied (1802 - 1890), Vicomte de Bondy, 'Pair de France' (1841), Senator of Indre and Prefect of Yonne. The latter's collection was liquidated a year after his death at a Paris auction held by the Galerie Durand-Ruel. The pendulum was sold under lot number 95 without an illustration, but with a description identical to our pendulum: "Pendule de bronze ciselé et doré, en forme de vase à cadrans tournants, sous un dôme ajouré, surmonté d'une graine. Ce vase est supporté par deux cygnes de bronze argenté, reliés par des guirlandes de roses, [...], bas-relief de bronze doré, représantant une danse de nymphes." How Taillepied came into possession of the swan pendulum, however, remains an open question. Possibly it passed into his possession by succession. Presumably the first sale was handled by the 'Marchand-Mercier' Dominique Daguerre. The successor of Simon-Philippe Poirier, who lived in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, supplied the Parisian authorities with luxury articles through his shop. The most important bronze smiths of his time worked for him, such as Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813), François Rémond (1747-1812) and Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843). It seems that Daguerre was able to supply the Russian tsar's house with an almost identical Louis XVI swan cassolette in 1782 (see Christie's, Paris auction, 22 June 2004, lot 350). The model for the pair of swans is based on a design by Charles de Wailly (1730 - 1798) (cf. Svend Eriksen, Early Neoclassicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 330). The draughtsman stayed in Rome from 1754 to 1757, where he studied ancient monuments. On his return to Paris he worked as a theatre decorator and ornamentalist. Under the protection of the Marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour and superintendent of royal buildings, he was at that time one of the most important pioneers of the new taste "à la grecque". His drawing for an imaginary vase illustrates two swans carrying a so-called cassolette (incense burner). The two silver-plated bronze swans supporting the vase-shaped case are, on the one hand, allusions to the ancient dualism between love/friendship (gr. 'eros'/'agape') and femininity/masculinity on the other. Back against back, joined by a garland of flowers, the pair of swans form a harmonious axis of symmetry, entirely in keeping with the style of the period. In their iconographic meaning, the birds are representative of the attributes of Venus, goddess of love, and Apollo, god of light, whose chariot is pulled by a pair of swans at nightfall. A Louis XVI swan cassolette, which probably came from the Russian Tsar collections, shows great similarity to our pendulum in the design of the swans and the dome (cf. Christie's, auction 'Important mobilier et objets d'art, orfevrerie, céramiques', Paris, 22 June 2004, lot 350). There are two other known cassolettes of this model with alternating bases, which can be used as comparative examples to our pendulum: One comes from the former Taylor collection (see Christie's London, July 1912, lot 544); Another with a base of krischro