94th Auction

2016/11/12

Lot 276

Isaac Thuret à Paris, Height 445 mm, circa 1675
An important Hague-style pendule religieuse with an extremely rare 4/4 strike on two bells and simultaneous half hour/hour strike
Case: walnut and ebony-veneer, glazed front and sides, gilt brass mounts, 3 hammers / 2 bells. Dial: hinged wooden dial plate, applied gilt brass chapter ring,black velvet surround. Signature plaque covering an aperture for the controlling of the pendulum. Movm.: rectangular brass movement 95 x 115 mm, keywind, 2 large barrels, locking plate, verge escapement, cycloidal cheeks, short pendulum.
The exceptionally rare pendule religieuse by renowned French maker Isaac Thuret is equipped with two independent striking mechanisms – a rare 4/4 strike and, simultaneously, a half hour/hour strike that follows the quarter strike after approximately one minute. The two constructions are not connected through the release lever but work independent of each other.
Isaac Thuret (1649-1706) was one of the most important French makers. In 1684 Thuret became Horloger du Roi (Louis XIV) and Horloger de l'Observatoire de Paris and in 1686 was established in the Galeries du Louvre. He maintained the clocks in the Fontainebleau Palace and between 1689 and 1694 also looked after the clocks in the Paris oberservatory and of the Académie des Sciences. On January 22, 1675, he made a watch with the first balance spring for Huygens, pretending it to be his own invention. Later he apologized for this to Huygens. Thuret also made clocks with verge escapement, cycloidal cheeks and seconds-pendulum for Huygens, one of which is preserved in the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden, He also made a great number of "religieuses".
Lit.: H.B. Vehmeyer "Clocks their origin and development"

Sold

estimated
6.00010.000 €
Price realized
13.700 €