97th Auction
2018/5/12
Lot 611
Presumably workshop of Pierre Jaquet-Droz, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Movement No. 262, Total Height 1300 mm, circa 1770
A splendid and important Neuchâtel Louis XVI "Contre-boulle" marquetry pendulum clock with quarter hour/hour strike and a marvellous musical movement with 3 tunes that activates on the hour but can also be released manually
Case: wood, with allover ormolu-veneer with polychrome horn inlays: sunflowers, daffodils and rose tendrils; ormolu mountings: acanthus, flower garlands, laurel scrolls and musical instruments; trellis side frets and glazed front door. Detachable curved bell top with 2 concealed bells and 2 hammers, vase finial, height 920 mm. Matching bracket, curved and tapering form, height 380 mm. Dial: enamel, radial Roman hours, pierced gilt hands. Movm.: square brass full plate movement, 2 barrels, finely matted applied rack strike levers on the back, verge escapement, short pendulum, 2 hammers / 2 bells for quarter repeater. Musical movement: heavy brass movement with chain/fusee and governor; next to it a brass frame with pinned barrel and 19 hammers on 10 bells.
Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds.
Constructed between 1768 and 1774 by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis (1752-1791), and Jean-Frédéric Leschot (1746-1824) were The Writer (made of 6000 pieces), The Musician (2500 pieces), and The Draughtsman (2000 pieces).
His astonishing mechanisms fascinated the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India, and Japan.
Some consider these devices to be the oldest examples of the computer. The Writer has an input device to set tabs that form a programmable memory, 40 cams that represent the read-only programme, and a quill pen for output. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz predates that of Charles Babbage by decades.
The automata of Jaquet-Droz are also considered to be some of the finest examples of human mechanical problem solving. Three particularly complex and still functional dolls, now known as the Jaquet-Droz automata, are housed at the art and history museum in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Jaquet-Droz, as of 09/09/2014.
A splendid and important Neuchâtel Louis XVI "Contre-boulle" marquetry pendulum clock with quarter hour/hour strike and a marvellous musical movement with 3 tunes that activates on the hour but can also be released manually
Case: wood, with allover ormolu-veneer with polychrome horn inlays: sunflowers, daffodils and rose tendrils; ormolu mountings: acanthus, flower garlands, laurel scrolls and musical instruments; trellis side frets and glazed front door. Detachable curved bell top with 2 concealed bells and 2 hammers, vase finial, height 920 mm. Matching bracket, curved and tapering form, height 380 mm. Dial: enamel, radial Roman hours, pierced gilt hands. Movm.: square brass full plate movement, 2 barrels, finely matted applied rack strike levers on the back, verge escapement, short pendulum, 2 hammers / 2 bells for quarter repeater. Musical movement: heavy brass movement with chain/fusee and governor; next to it a brass frame with pinned barrel and 19 hammers on 10 bells.
Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds.
Constructed between 1768 and 1774 by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis (1752-1791), and Jean-Frédéric Leschot (1746-1824) were The Writer (made of 6000 pieces), The Musician (2500 pieces), and The Draughtsman (2000 pieces).
His astonishing mechanisms fascinated the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India, and Japan.
Some consider these devices to be the oldest examples of the computer. The Writer has an input device to set tabs that form a programmable memory, 40 cams that represent the read-only programme, and a quill pen for output. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz predates that of Charles Babbage by decades.
The automata of Jaquet-Droz are also considered to be some of the finest examples of human mechanical problem solving. Three particularly complex and still functional dolls, now known as the Jaquet-Droz automata, are housed at the art and history museum in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Jaquet-Droz, as of 09/09/2014.
estimated
35.000—45.000 €
Price realized
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