Music clock. - Lot 293

Lot n° 293
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Estimation :
15000 - 25000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 279 500EUR
Music clock. - Lot 293
Music clock. Antide JANVIER (1751-1835). Watchmaker to the King, appointed in 1784. Important and rare music clock. Rectangular shape, in mahogany veneer, with molded panels. The upper part is decorated with an enamelled dial signed "JANVIER", with Roman numerals for the hours and a railway. The interior features a six-tune roller music mechanism with organ pipes. The lower part decorated with ornaments in chased and gilded bronze, rosettes, stars and thyrses; in the center, Venus on her chariot harnessed to swans, against a background of clouds under a starry sky with moon; enriched, on either side, with caryatids draped in the Antique style carrying baskets of fruit, two female representations and a figure symbolizing America. 1st Empire period (small accidents and cracks, weak bellows). 73.5 x 39 x height Height : 69 cm. Provenance : Acquired by Countess Viviane de WITT at the Tajan sale, Paris, December 6, 1999, n°84 HORLOGER DU ROI ANTIDE JANVIER (1751-1835) Antide Janvier was introduced to clockmaking by his father, and perfected his skills under the guidance of Abbé Tournier de Saint-Claude, who taught him mathematics and astronomy. In 1766, aged just 15, he built a moving sphere, which he presented to the members of the Besançon Academy of Sciences, who showered him with praise. Later, he perfected his skills with M. Devanne and built several planetary spheres, including a particularly remarkable one that enabled him to be presented to Louis XV. In 1783, he was awarded a patent by the Count of Provence, the future Louis XVIII, as "Horloger Mécanicien de Monsieur, frère du Roi". The following year, he presented Louis XVI with two astronomical clocks and received the title of "Horloger du Roy". Thanks to his mastery of horological and astronomical complications, he was protected by every successive government in France. From Louis XVI, as early as 1784, he had a room at Versailles; in 1786, he received lodgings at the Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs du Roi, rue Bergère in Paris; from the revolutionary government, lodgings at the Louvre Palace; and from Napoleon, First Consul, permanent accommodation at the Palais de l'Institut, on the banks of the Seine. Temporary importation The buyer will be required to pay import duties, i.e. 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the item is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union.
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