Louis XV Tortoiseshell Cartel Clock

Period

ca. 1760

Material

oak frame veneered with tortoiseshell

Sizes

(height) 97.00cm. (width) 20.00cm. (Length) 38.00cm.

Description

Fourteen day going train with anchor escapement. Striking train with locking plate, chimes on the full and half hours.
The white enameled dial consists of 13 sections, with black Arabic numerals for the minutes and Roman numerals for the hours. Two openwork ormolu hands.

The wooden casing is decorated with tortoiseshell on red paper and ormolu bronze fittings of extraordinary quality. The casing is signed at the back, bottom-right; B Lieutaud.

The clockmaker François Viger [Rue st. Denis 1745-1783], regularly worked together with the ébeniste Balthasar Lieutaud [Maître march 20. 1749, died may 10. 1780]. Lieutaud was specialized in clock cases and worked in a pure Louis XV style and after 1770 in neo-classical style.

Clocks by Lieutaud can, amongst others, be found in the collections of; Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, Château de Versailles, Victoria and Albert Museum Londen, the Wallace Collection in London and the Frick Collection in New York.

Signed on the dial; VIGER A PARIS
Signed on the back of the clockwork; VIGER A PARIS, No: 809
Signed on the back of the casing; B LIEUTAUD

Literature:
Pierre Kjelberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1998.