99th Auction
2019/5/11
Lot 368
Ferdinand Berthoud / Robert und Jean Baptiste Osmond, Paris, Height 500 mm, circa 1770
A "Goût Grec" mantel clock of museum quality, with half hour/hour strike "Two Geniuses of Music"
Case: ormolu. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 barrels, anchor escapement, count wheel, silk suspended short pendulum.
The case of this pendulum clock is typical for the workshop of bronzer Robert Osmond and his nephew Jean Baptiste Osmond. Both were fervent followers of the "Greek style", the so-called "Goût Grec", which was enormously popular in France in the 1760s and 1770s. "Column clocks" in particular were one of the most favoured designs of the Osmond’s workshop and featured in great variety in many different clocks:
Two winged putti flank a rectangular fluted and truncated column supported by a square base with four bun feet. They sit facing each other and hold sheets of music in their lap, with various musical instruments at their feet. The truncated column holds the barrel-shaped clock, which is elaborately decorated with volutes, garlands, laurel, acanthus and a vase finial.
Robert Osmond was born in 1711 and trained in 1735 in the workshop of Louis Regnard, "maître fondeur en terre et en sable". He became a master in 1746 and moved to the Rue des Canettes in the parish of Saint-Sulpice. In 1753 he brought his nephew Jean-Baptiste Osmond into the business, which he had to move to larger premises at Rue de Macon because of the ever-increasing demand in his work. Robert was appointed juryman of the guild, which protected his rights as an inventor and designer. In 1764 Jean-Baptiste became a master at the age of 22. Sometime between 1770 and 1775 Robert stopped working - he died in 1789. Jean Baptiste continued to work on his own but the business eventually went bankrupt.
The creations by the Osmonds were highly sought after by discerning collectors and aristocratic patrons alike. They collaborated with the most important clockmakers of their time such as Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807), who had emigrated from Switzerland to Paris in 1747. Berthoud was not only an excellent maker but also wrote several books on the history as well as on theory and practise of clockmaking.
A nearly identical bronze pendulum clock with geniuses of music by Robert and Jean Baptiste Osmond is illustrated and described in "Vergoldete Bronzen" by H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Munich 1986, Vol. I, p. 195, illus. 3.12.7.
A "Goût Grec" mantel clock of museum quality, with half hour/hour strike "Two Geniuses of Music"
Case: ormolu. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 barrels, anchor escapement, count wheel, silk suspended short pendulum.
The case of this pendulum clock is typical for the workshop of bronzer Robert Osmond and his nephew Jean Baptiste Osmond. Both were fervent followers of the "Greek style", the so-called "Goût Grec", which was enormously popular in France in the 1760s and 1770s. "Column clocks" in particular were one of the most favoured designs of the Osmond’s workshop and featured in great variety in many different clocks:
Two winged putti flank a rectangular fluted and truncated column supported by a square base with four bun feet. They sit facing each other and hold sheets of music in their lap, with various musical instruments at their feet. The truncated column holds the barrel-shaped clock, which is elaborately decorated with volutes, garlands, laurel, acanthus and a vase finial.
Robert Osmond was born in 1711 and trained in 1735 in the workshop of Louis Regnard, "maître fondeur en terre et en sable". He became a master in 1746 and moved to the Rue des Canettes in the parish of Saint-Sulpice. In 1753 he brought his nephew Jean-Baptiste Osmond into the business, which he had to move to larger premises at Rue de Macon because of the ever-increasing demand in his work. Robert was appointed juryman of the guild, which protected his rights as an inventor and designer. In 1764 Jean-Baptiste became a master at the age of 22. Sometime between 1770 and 1775 Robert stopped working - he died in 1789. Jean Baptiste continued to work on his own but the business eventually went bankrupt.
The creations by the Osmonds were highly sought after by discerning collectors and aristocratic patrons alike. They collaborated with the most important clockmakers of their time such as Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807), who had emigrated from Switzerland to Paris in 1747. Berthoud was not only an excellent maker but also wrote several books on the history as well as on theory and practise of clockmaking.
A nearly identical bronze pendulum clock with geniuses of music by Robert and Jean Baptiste Osmond is illustrated and described in "Vergoldete Bronzen" by H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Munich 1986, Vol. I, p. 195, illus. 3.12.7.
Sold
estimated
10.000—15.000 €
Price realized
13.800 €