Clocks · Clock
Clock by André-Charles Boulle, France, c. 1695
- Maker / attribution
- André-Charles Boulle (maker); Balthazar Martinot II (clockmaker)
- Date
- c. 1695
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- France, late 17th Century
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- tortoise shell and brass inlay, gilt bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 113.7 cm (44 3/4 in.)
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession / object no.
- 1967.153
- Credit line
- Gift of Family and Friends in honor of Emery May Holden Norweb and Raymond Henry Norweb on their fiftieth wedding anniversary
- Catalogue title (original)
- Clock (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art (object number 1967.153), this is a clock by André-Charles Boulle, made in France, late 17th Century, dated c. 1695. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: tortoise shell and brass inlay, gilt bronze. Recorded dimensions: Overall: 113.7 cm (44 3/4 in.). The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Description — Cleveland Museum of Art
Appointed cabinetmaker to King Louis XIV in 1672, André-Charles Boulle became a master of furniture making in France during the late 1600s until his death in 1732. Known primarily for his use of marquetry, in which metal patterns are inlaid into tortoiseshell then applied within the veneered surface of the furniture, Boulle established a level of quality and craftsmanship few others could achieve. As a result, his work found favor at the royal court and among other aristocrats and diplomats eager to impress the king. Often exhibiting stout architectural proportions with elegant groups of inlaid motifs, Boulle’s designs are an example of the intellectual fashion for contrasting ideas, materials, and motifs. With its relatively new scientific invention of a pendulum mechanism and the addition of a barometer, the mantel clock represented the wealth, prestige, and intellect of its owner.
Provenance
(Blumka Gallery, New York).
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Mantel and French pendule clocks
The mantel clock — the French pendule de cheminée — is as much decorative art as timekeeper. From the late seventeenth century Parisian clockmakers worked with cabinet-makers, bronze founders and gilders (ciseleurs-doreurs) to create cases in Boulle marquetry, gilt bronze and marble, while the movements were often supplied by specialist makers. Clocks of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, and Empire clocks with allegorical figures, set fashions copied across Europe.
The nineteenth century industrialised the type. The 'Paris movement', a standardised round movement with silk-thread or Brocot suspension and count-wheel striking, was made in huge numbers by firms such as Japy and Vincenti, and fitted into cases of every style and material.
What to look for
- Round 'Paris' movements with makers' stamps (e.g. Japy Frères, Vincenti, S. Marti) and medal marks from exhibitions.
- Suspension type: silk thread (earlier) or Brocot adjustable suspension (after c. 1840).
- Visible Brocot escapement on the dial in later clocks.
- Fire-gilt (mercury) gilding on bronzes versus later electro-gilding.
- Signed dials naming a retailer rather than the movement maker.
Dating clues
- Silk-suspension Paris movements: c. 1800–1850.
- Brocot suspension and visible escapements: after c. 1840.
- Exhibition medal stamps on movements give dates after the medal year.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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