Page 88 - Pascal Izarn catalogue 2022
P. 88
A LOUIS XVI GILT BRONZE AND WHITE MARBLE CLOCK
IN THE FORM OF A MONTGOLFIÈRE BALLOON
The dial signed Léchopié à Paris, the springs signed Bagot mai 1784
Height: 49.5 cm. (19 ½ in.) Width: 37.4 cm. (14 ¾ in.) Depth: 14 cm. (5 ½ in.)
Adam Léchopié (d. before 1800), maître on 10 January 1758
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 121, no. 156.
P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p.
208, A and B (ill.)
This clock model was commercialised following the pioneering balloon flights above
the Paris skies in late 1783. On 19 September in front of Louis XVI at Versailles, the
Montgolfier brothers succeeded in launching a hot air balloon carrying animals in the
basket. After five minutes in the air, the balloon touched down three and a half kilometres
away with the sheep, duck and rooster all unharmed. The first manned flight took off from
the Bois de Boulogne on 21 November and reached an altitude of around 3,000 feet.
Meanwhile, the scientist-inventor Jacques Charles had developed hydrogen as a lifting
agent, and ten days later on 1 December he ascended 1,800 feet above the Tuileries
Gardens. His “Charlière” balloon was designed by the Robert brothers, and Nicolas-
Louis Robert co-piloted its maiden voyage which lasted over two hours and covered 36
kilometres.
A contemporary drawing shows Charles and Robert waving flags in their hydrogen-
filled balloon as they begin their ascent in front thousands of spectators gathered in the
foreground.
Antoine François Sergent-Marceau(?), Charlière, 1783(?). Graphite, ink wash, opaque white, and gilt
Washington D.C., Library of Congress (94508310)
This extraordinary scientific advancement captured the public’s imagination and luxury dealers moved rapidly to take advantage of the interest,
producing prints and objects such as this clock. This example’s signed and dated springs (May 1784) indicates just how quickly they came onto the
market, with design, manufacture and finishing taking less than nine months from the initial flight.
Léchopié seems to have made a specialty of this type of clock as several other identical models bearing his signature are known. A slightly simplified one
in the Decorative Arts Museum in Budapest is illustrated in Verlet, op.cit., no. 156 and another was sold Briscadieu, Bordeaux, 12 May 2012, lot 129.
Further examples by other clockmakers include ones sold Christie’s Paris, 21 June 2006, lot 324 (signed Festeau Le Jeune) and Sotheby’s Monaco, 27-28
June 1998, lot 307 (unsigned) and another illustrated in Kjellberg, op. cit., p. 208 B (signed Le Roy).
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV GILT BRONZE-
MOUNTED CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE
ROSE PORCELAIN TUREENS – CIRCA 1750-
1755
The porcelain 18th Century
Height: 36 cm. (14 ¼ in.) Width: 43 cm. (17 in.)
PROVENANCE
Ader, Drouot, Paris, 16 June 1958, lot 18 (ill. pl. 4; sold for 1,000,000
old French Francs)
Christie’s New York, 21 October 1997, lot 177 (sold for $145,500)
Michel Meyer, Paris Biennale, 1998
LITERATURE
P. Kjellberg, Objets montés: du Moyen Age à nos jours, Paris, 2000, p.
73 (ill.)
Photography: © Michel Gurfinkel | Design: Steve Hayes | Print: Blackmore, Dorset | October 2022
76
IN THE FORM OF A MONTGOLFIÈRE BALLOON
The dial signed Léchopié à Paris, the springs signed Bagot mai 1784
Height: 49.5 cm. (19 ½ in.) Width: 37.4 cm. (14 ¾ in.) Depth: 14 cm. (5 ½ in.)
Adam Léchopié (d. before 1800), maître on 10 January 1758
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 121, no. 156.
P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p.
208, A and B (ill.)
This clock model was commercialised following the pioneering balloon flights above
the Paris skies in late 1783. On 19 September in front of Louis XVI at Versailles, the
Montgolfier brothers succeeded in launching a hot air balloon carrying animals in the
basket. After five minutes in the air, the balloon touched down three and a half kilometres
away with the sheep, duck and rooster all unharmed. The first manned flight took off from
the Bois de Boulogne on 21 November and reached an altitude of around 3,000 feet.
Meanwhile, the scientist-inventor Jacques Charles had developed hydrogen as a lifting
agent, and ten days later on 1 December he ascended 1,800 feet above the Tuileries
Gardens. His “Charlière” balloon was designed by the Robert brothers, and Nicolas-
Louis Robert co-piloted its maiden voyage which lasted over two hours and covered 36
kilometres.
A contemporary drawing shows Charles and Robert waving flags in their hydrogen-
filled balloon as they begin their ascent in front thousands of spectators gathered in the
foreground.
Antoine François Sergent-Marceau(?), Charlière, 1783(?). Graphite, ink wash, opaque white, and gilt
Washington D.C., Library of Congress (94508310)
This extraordinary scientific advancement captured the public’s imagination and luxury dealers moved rapidly to take advantage of the interest,
producing prints and objects such as this clock. This example’s signed and dated springs (May 1784) indicates just how quickly they came onto the
market, with design, manufacture and finishing taking less than nine months from the initial flight.
Léchopié seems to have made a specialty of this type of clock as several other identical models bearing his signature are known. A slightly simplified one
in the Decorative Arts Museum in Budapest is illustrated in Verlet, op.cit., no. 156 and another was sold Briscadieu, Bordeaux, 12 May 2012, lot 129.
Further examples by other clockmakers include ones sold Christie’s Paris, 21 June 2006, lot 324 (signed Festeau Le Jeune) and Sotheby’s Monaco, 27-28
June 1998, lot 307 (unsigned) and another illustrated in Kjellberg, op. cit., p. 208 B (signed Le Roy).
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV GILT BRONZE-
MOUNTED CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE
ROSE PORCELAIN TUREENS – CIRCA 1750-
1755
The porcelain 18th Century
Height: 36 cm. (14 ¼ in.) Width: 43 cm. (17 in.)
PROVENANCE
Ader, Drouot, Paris, 16 June 1958, lot 18 (ill. pl. 4; sold for 1,000,000
old French Francs)
Christie’s New York, 21 October 1997, lot 177 (sold for $145,500)
Michel Meyer, Paris Biennale, 1998
LITERATURE
P. Kjellberg, Objets montés: du Moyen Age à nos jours, Paris, 2000, p.
73 (ill.)
Photography: © Michel Gurfinkel | Design: Steve Hayes | Print: Blackmore, Dorset | October 2022
76
