H. 44 cm (17 ²¹/₆₄ in.); L. 65 cm (25 ¹⁹/₃₂ in.); D. 26 cm (10 ¹⁵/₆₄ in.)
Renaud César Louis de Choiseul (1735‑1791), 2nd Duc de Praslin (1735‑1791)
His sale, Paris, February 18th 1793, lot 248
Baron Elie de Rothschild, Paris
The pictured clock derives from the model ‘à la Geoffrin’, created in 1754 by the sculptor Laurent Guiard for Madame Geoffrin who hosted one of most important literary salons of the 18th century. It showed a draped and seated woman known as “l’Emploi du Temps”, reclining while reading a book. The design was met with great acclaim and was reproduced in various versions for more than thirty years. Many of these clocks were mounted on ebony bases with ormolu bronzes, predominantly created by the cabinet makers Joseph Baumhauer and Balthazar Lieutaud.
This clock was part of the collection of Renaud César Louis de Choiseul (1735–1791), 2nd Duc de Praslin, and appeared in his sale in 1793, lot 248: “bureau de marqueterie Boulle, […], portant une pendule du nom de Martin à Paris, dans sa boîte de forme carrée, avec figure de femme assise sur le côté désignant l’Étude, et un génie, le tout en cuivre ciselé doré d’or moulu”.