An Empire patinated and gilt-bronze clock inkstand, circa 1805
Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
shaped as a roman ship, centred with a dial added later featuring roman numerals, the pounce pot and inkwell with covers shaped as roosters, surmounted by a figure of Neptune, resting on a double-tiered base decorated with swans and turtles, the movement inscribed “avance” and “retard”, label from an old German auction under the base ; (some elements missing)
Haut. 34 cm, long. 35 cm, larg. 13 cm ; Height 13 ½ in, length 13 ½ in, width 5 in
La collection Pierre-Jean Chalençon - Napoléon : L’Empereur sous la verrière du Grand Palais, Paris, 2018, catalogue for the 30th Biennale Paris, 8-16 September 2018, ill. p. 80
P.-J. Chalençon, B. Topping and R. Hull Etling, Napoléon: An Intimate Portrait, Floride, 2005, exhibition catalogue, 2005-2011, ill. p. 40
Related literature
N. Wenowa, Vergoldete Bronzen : Meisterwerke aus dem Zarenschloss Peterhof, Iphofen, 1998, exhibition catalogue, Knauf-Museum, 30 July– 8 November 1998, p. 58, n. 48
Napoléon: An Intimate Portrait, A Travelling Exhibition from Russell Etling Company, 2005-2011
La collection Pierre-Jean Chalençon - Napoléon : L’empereur sous la verrière du Grand Palais, 30th Biennale Paris, Grand Palais, 8-16 September 2018
This inkstand, later transformed into a clock, is a model created under the First Empire. Its three compartments originally held ink, a sponge, and the powder necessary for writing. The handles, shaped as rooster busts, recall the vermeil inkstand crafted by Odiot for Napoleon I, now preserved at the Mobilier National.
A similar model is found in several public collections, notably at the Peterhof Palace in Saint Petersburg and Anglesey Abbey in Lord Fairhaven’s collection.
Two examples have recently appeared at auction: one from the Kenneth Neame Collection (Christie’s Paris, Kenneth Neame Collection, June 13, 2018, Lot 26), and another with provenance linked to King Charles XV of Sweden (Stockholms Auktionsverk, June 7, 2017, Lot 2280).