103rd Auction

2020/11/7

Lot 143

Janvier au Louvre, Height 475 mm, circa 1800
A large astronomic audience clock of museum quality with 24-hour dial and ten-minute subsidiary minutes dial, moon phase and age of the moon. The case was made later and is not original.
Case: mahogany veneered, base on four gilt feet with two gilt bronze sphinxes. Dial: silvered. Movm.: round brass full plate movement, going barrel, anchor escapement, silk suspended pendulum, steel pendulum rod and brass bob.
In his book on Antide Janvier, Michel Hayard describes a very similar clock with a case that would become typical for Janviers so-called "audience clocks". The 10-minute divisions indicating to a supplicant the time they had left to make their petition are displayed in a small subsidiary dial here; later they would sometimes appear prominently on the large main chapter ring. In any case, it seems that emphasis is placed on the astronomical function here, which indicates the moon phases with the smaller of the hands carrying a small revolving metal globe, half of which is blued. A silvered disc between the hands displays the moon age. The larger hand is decorated with a small sun and marks the hour on a scale of 2 x 12 hours; approximate minutes are shown by the six divisions between the full hours. Only when the 10-minute indication is added to the number of minute divisions, the exact time becomes apparent. Hayard consequently writes: "It is certainly not the easiest clock to read" (Michel Hayard, Antide Janvier, page 118).
Antide Janvier was born in Briva on July 1, 1751. He learned his craft from his father Claude Étienne Janvier, who recognized his sons talent early and encouraged him. Antide studied Latin, Greek, Maths and Astronomy with a local abbot and in 1766, at the age of 15, designed and constructed an armillary sphere (a solar system model), which he presented at the Academy of Sciences in Besançon. The model won him much recognition and on May 24, 1768 he received a letter of appreciation from the academy.
Janvier quickly gained an excellent reputation as a maker of complicated and difficult clocks of superior quality, including many pendulum clocks, globes, astronomical clocks, spheres and planetaria.
In 1783 he created two spheres for King Louis XVI and was also clockmaker to his brother, later King Louis XVIII. During the time of the French Revolution Janvier spend quite some time in prison because of these royal connections; afterwards he had severe financial problems because lot of his work had not been paid for. Between 1789 and 1801 Janvier produced one of his best pieces - a clock that operated an armillary sphere.
Janvier also produced clocks for Abraham-Louis Breguet, which Breguet sold under his own name. In 1802, during the time of the Consulate, Janvier opened a clockmaking school. He was appointed clockmaker to King Louis XVIII and won a goldmedal at the exhibition in 1823. In 1825 he was invested into the Legion of Honour or at least nominated as a knight. Antide Janvier died in Paris in the Hôspital Cochin on September 23, 1835 at the age of 84, destitute and forgotten by his peers. His death certificate said "Antide Janvier, stateless" and "cause of death: old age". Today we know just how exceptional a clockmaker Antide Janvier was; the towns of Besançon and Saint-Claude have named streets after him in his honour. The largest collection of his masterpieces that can be viewed by the public is in the Musée Paul-Dupuy in Toulouse.

estimated
32.00040.000 €
Price realized
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