97th Auction
2018/5/12
Lot 80
Etienne LeNoir, Paris, Movement No. 2260, 110 mm, 1150 g, circa 1750
An important splendour coach clock with half hour and hour self strike
Case: silver and gilt brass, rear bell. Dial: enamel, signed "Coteau". Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, 1 barrel, 1 hammer, verge escapement, count wheel, three-arm brass balance.
The gilded case is intricately ornamented with silver filigree work; the fine braided wires form graceful floral motifs and cover the whole surface area. The bezel and the edge of the case are decorated with eight sections of gilded wire with delicate metal beads. The white enamel dial bears the signature "Coteau" and has Roman hours, a minute ring and an Arabic 5-minute display. Coteau is famous for his outstanding enamel and porcelain painting - he probably created the most important and precise dials of his time.
Étienne LeNoir, a.k.a. Lenoir and Le Noir (1699-1778), was a French maker and descendant of a watchmaking family based in Paris since the 16th century. Lenoir became a master in 1717 and was one of the most important makers of his time; he gained his reputation not from his own inventions but from his ability run a well-organized business that produced large numbers of timepieces of consistent high quality. His son Pierre Étienne LeNoir also signed his work with the high-profile signature of his father. The workshop existed until the 1820s.
Many of Lenoir’s timepieces are today owned by important museums such as the Münchner Residenz, Schloss Wilhelmsthal in Calden, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu.
Source: www.de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_LeNoir_(Uhrmacher), as of 03/16/2018
Jean Coteau (also known as Cotau, Cotteau) (1739-1812) was born 1739 in Geneva and received his title of "maître peintre-émailleur" from the Académie de Saint-Luc in Geneva. He devoted himself to allegoric illustrations but also painted portraits (he also brought Elisa Bonaparte to canvas).
In the late 1760s Coteau moved to Paris and opened a studio in the Rue Poupée. He soon had a reputation as an exceptional enamel and porcelain painter who most likely created the most important and intricate dials of his time. He developed a new and complicated process of creating ornaments with coloured pearls on small gold plates as well as a method enabling him to paint with gold alloys on a translucid royal blue background, which created a vivid and almost relief-like effect. The arts encyclopedia even mention the "Coteau Email". Hence it is not surprising that he from 1780 to 1784 he also worked for the royal Manufacture de Sèvres.
Lit.: Helena Hayward, "The Connoisseur's Handbook of Antique Collecting", Amsterdam 1960, p. 109; J.D. Augarde, "Les ouvriers du temps", Geneva 1995, p. 103 and 342; Thieme/Becker, Leipzig 1999; Vol. 7/8, p. 551
An important splendour coach clock with half hour and hour self strike
Case: silver and gilt brass, rear bell. Dial: enamel, signed "Coteau". Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, 1 barrel, 1 hammer, verge escapement, count wheel, three-arm brass balance.
The gilded case is intricately ornamented with silver filigree work; the fine braided wires form graceful floral motifs and cover the whole surface area. The bezel and the edge of the case are decorated with eight sections of gilded wire with delicate metal beads. The white enamel dial bears the signature "Coteau" and has Roman hours, a minute ring and an Arabic 5-minute display. Coteau is famous for his outstanding enamel and porcelain painting - he probably created the most important and precise dials of his time.
Étienne LeNoir, a.k.a. Lenoir and Le Noir (1699-1778), was a French maker and descendant of a watchmaking family based in Paris since the 16th century. Lenoir became a master in 1717 and was one of the most important makers of his time; he gained his reputation not from his own inventions but from his ability run a well-organized business that produced large numbers of timepieces of consistent high quality. His son Pierre Étienne LeNoir also signed his work with the high-profile signature of his father. The workshop existed until the 1820s.
Many of Lenoir’s timepieces are today owned by important museums such as the Münchner Residenz, Schloss Wilhelmsthal in Calden, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu.
Source: www.de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_LeNoir_(Uhrmacher), as of 03/16/2018
Jean Coteau (also known as Cotau, Cotteau) (1739-1812) was born 1739 in Geneva and received his title of "maître peintre-émailleur" from the Académie de Saint-Luc in Geneva. He devoted himself to allegoric illustrations but also painted portraits (he also brought Elisa Bonaparte to canvas).
In the late 1760s Coteau moved to Paris and opened a studio in the Rue Poupée. He soon had a reputation as an exceptional enamel and porcelain painter who most likely created the most important and intricate dials of his time. He developed a new and complicated process of creating ornaments with coloured pearls on small gold plates as well as a method enabling him to paint with gold alloys on a translucid royal blue background, which created a vivid and almost relief-like effect. The arts encyclopedia even mention the "Coteau Email". Hence it is not surprising that he from 1780 to 1784 he also worked for the royal Manufacture de Sèvres.
Lit.: Helena Hayward, "The Connoisseur's Handbook of Antique Collecting", Amsterdam 1960, p. 109; J.D. Augarde, "Les ouvriers du temps", Geneva 1995, p. 103 and 342; Thieme/Becker, Leipzig 1999; Vol. 7/8, p. 551
estimated
40.000—70.000 €
Price realized
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