Clock with a porcelain frame case, lyre-shaped, Sèvres porcelain factory, Sèvres, ca. 1795-1797

V&A — Summary

The lyre, with its association in mythology with Apollo, the sun god, was deemed a particularly appropriate shape for clock cases. They were produced in France in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a wide range of materials: carved and gilded wood, marquetry, gilt bronze, marble and porcelain. In addition to this example in Sèvres porcelain, there are two similar Sèvres lyre clocks in the Royal Collection in London. One of these also has a dial painted with the signs of the zodiac by the enameller Coteau, while the other is signed by the same French clock maker, Kinable. A further example is in the Musée National de Céramique at Sèvres. The model was introduced at Sèvres in 1785 and went on being produced in small numbers right up to the end of the 18th century. We know from the factory's kiln records, that some thirty lyres went through the kilns from 1788-1797. Most of those that survive have the deep blue ( beau bleu ) ground colour, but a few are known in green, pink or turquoise blue. King Louis XVI, is recorded as buying a pair of blue-ground lyre clocks on 4th January 1786 at a cost of 384 livres . However, the factory records reveal that they were mostly bought by clock makers or marchands merciers (dealers in luxury goods) who then fitted them with clock dials and movements which are fortunately often dated and signed. The clock maker Dieudonné Kinable was active from the late 18th century until after 1816. His first recorded purchase of a lyre clock was on 26 pluviôse an III (14 February, 1795). Between that date and 25 March, 1797 (5 germinal, an V), he bought twelve lyres. On 12 June 1806 he purchased a further seven. While the date 1806 scratched on the springs of the museum's clock might suggest that its lyre case was one of the seven bought by Kinable in 1806, the fact that they were priced at a mere 48 francs each could indicate that they were part of unsold old stock which the manufactory was selling at a considerable discount. Reproduction Louis XVI lyre-shaped clocks were made in the second half of the nineteenth century, often copying the names and dates on known original versions. Information taken from Geoffrey de Bellaigue. French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen , Royal Collection Publications, 2009, 3 vols. Vol. III, pp. 993-997.

V&A — Physical description

Case: Clock with a porcelain frame case, lyre-shaped and blue ( beau bleu , developed at Sèvres in 1763) ground with chased ormolu mounts and dial painted with the signs of the Zodiac, and the pendulum formed by a ring of paste diamonds. Dial: The innermost ring of figures 1 to 31 are for the day of the month. The next ring is marked with Roman hours. Surrounding this is the minute circle, with every fifth minute marked by a paste diamond. Around these are the names of the months in French, surrounded by painted figures of the zodiac by Cotteau, in various colours. The winding holes are inside IIII VIII, and the dial is signed 'Kinable' above VI. The hour and minute hands are pierced brass, the hands for the day of the month and annual calender steel; the latter hand has partly broken off. Movement: The circular movement plates are 12.7cm diameter. Both trains have going barrels, with an Amant-type pin-wheel escapement. The pendulum has a double bob, and at the front the ring of 47 paste diamonds each set in a thin copper cup, which surround the dial. These two lower parts of the pendulum are fixed below a horizontal A-shaped piece attached to the bottom of a mock compensation pendulum of 4 steel and 3 brass rods, each 15.2cm long and all fixed at the top and bottom, suspended from a stirrup with screw vertical adjustment and resting on a pair of knife-edges. An upward crutch attached to the pallet arbor has two pins which engage with the slots between the rods of the mock compensation, with a screw for sideways adjustment. The locking-plate striking train, with an outside count-wheel, allows for a single stroke at each half-hour, coaxial with the second wheel of the strike train.

V&A — Object history

This clock was among a large collection of furniture, porcelain, metalwork, paintings and books owned by the tailor and businessman John Jones, and kept in cramped conditions at his house at 95, Piccadilly. In his will of 4 December 1879 and in a codicil of 22 January 1880, Jones bequeathed the objects to the South Kensington Museum, and they were transferred there after his death in 1882. The Handbook to the Jones bequest, published in 1883, marvels at the value of the gift, which seems still not to have been displayed to best advantage: 'Probably a large majority of those who visit the Jones collection will be indisposed to believe ... that so limited a space as three not large galleries in the Museum can contain furniture and decorative arts worth no less than a quarter of a million of money'. Jones' principal collecting interests lay in French eighteenth-century furniture and decorative arts, of which this clock is a splendid and rare example, as well as reflecting the late-Victorian love of rich, gilded surfaces and historical artistic styles. One of sixteen clocks bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum by John Jones.

V&A — Production note

Metal mounting by Duplessis. The dial is signed by Cotteau (born Geneva after 1739, died after 1812), who painted the signs of the Zodiac, as well as by the clockmaker Kinable (active 1780-1825), who is known to have bought 13 porcelain clocks of this type from the Sèvres manufactory between 1795 and 1797.

V&A gallery label

Clock About 1795–97 This expensive model of clock was introduced as early as 1785 and made by the Sèvres factory for the rest of the century, even after the Revolution. In the shape of Apollo’s lyre and surmounted by the head of a Greek god, the clock has exceptionally fine gilded metal ornaments. France (Paris) Made at the Sèvres factory Movement by the clockmaker Kinable Porcelain; gilded copper alloy mounts; glass-paste diamonds; dial of painted enamels on copper Bequeathed by John Jones

V&A gallery label

Clock. Sèvres porcelain frame, lyre-shape, gros-bleu, with chased ormoulu mounts, the dial painted with the signs of the zodiac by Cotteau, and the pendulum formed by a ring of paste diamonds. The works by "Kinable". The metal mounting by Duplessis. French . Second half of 18 th cent y . L. 2 ft ¼ in; W. 10½ in. Jones Bequest 1004-1882

V&A gallery label

LYRE CLOCK French; late 18th century. Sèvres porcelain ( bleu nouveau ) mounted in cast and chased ormolu, the painted enamel dial surrounded by pastes. Dial signed by the clockmaker Kinable (active c. 1780-1825), and by the enameller Coteau, (born Geneva after 1739 - died after 1812) who painted the signs of the zodiac corresponding to the months. Kinable is known to have bought thirteen such porcelain lyres from the Sèvres manufactory between 1795 and 1797. Other versions are in the Royal Collection and at the Louvre. Jones Collection. 1004-1882