Property from the Farquhar Family Collection (lots 104-105)
A late Louis XVI ormolu-mounted white and griotte marble mantle clock, Antoine Cronier, Paris, circa 1790
Live auction begins on:
November 19, 01:30 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Bid
6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
5-inch enamel dial with annular date and day, signed Cronier A Paris, the movement with silk suspension, deadbeat escapement with beat adjustment on the crutch, external locking plate striking on a bell, signed and numbered to the backplate Lepine A Paris, No.4389, the drum mounted within a finely carved white marble sculpture depicting a bacchante supported by cupid, the griotte marble base with a crisply-cast and chased ormolu frieze of a mask flanked by putti and foliate scrolls, on reeded toupie feet,
55cm 21¾in high; 53cm. 20¾in wide
Farquhar Family, Whiteway House, Devon, until 1967;
Thence by descent at Redlynch House, Wiltshire, until recently.
Antoine Cronier (1732-after 1806) was born in Paris and apprenticed in 1745 to the clockmaker Nicolas-Pierre Thuillier. He opened his own workshop in 1759 and in 1763 was made Maitre-horloger. Cronier is known for the high quality of his cases and used the finest bronziers of the day. As he was a clockmaker in his own right, it is interesting that the movement of this clock was supplied by Jean-Antoine Lepine (1720-1814). It may be that Cronier wanted a particularly accurate movement for this clock and that Lepine, a particularly fine and technically innovative maker, was able to supply one with a version of the deadbeat escapement providing the required accuracy of timekeeping.
The Farquhar family
This clock and commode (lots 104 and 105) originate from the significant collection assembled by the Farquhar family of Whiteway House, Devon. The house was first occupied by Ernest Farquhar (1853–1930), but it is possible that the presence of these artworks in the family could go back to Sir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, 2nd Baronet (1775–1836), partner of Herries, Farquhar & Co., a private bank famous for pioneering circular notes (an early form of the traveller’s cheque) and for becoming a major financier to the British aristocracy, and first founded in 1770.
During the Napoleonic wars, despite the difficulties, business abroad continued since Herries, Farquhar & Co. had the privilege of transacting some overseas business on behalf of the Duke of Wellington.
After the Napoleonic Wars, the bank invested in French bonds, reportedly establishing connections with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (later Emperor Napoleon III). According to family tradition, the deposed Emperor was initially accommodated by the Farquhar family at their Eaton Square residence in London.
The collection remained at Whiteway House for three generations, with one notable exception: during the First World War, when Whiteway served as a recovery hospital, the collection was temporarily relocated for safekeeping to the Victoria and Albert Museum's ancillary location in Bethnal Green. The family sold Whiteway in 1967, and these pieces moved with them to Redlynch House near Salisbury where it remained until recently.
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