A ROYAL LOUIS XV BOULLE AND ORMOLU MOUNTED...

A ROYAL LOUIS XV BOULLE AND ORMOLU MOUNTED CLOCK AND STAND

C.1730 AND LATER

the brass eight day twin fusee movement hourly striking on a bell, the backplate inscribed 'Rentzsch, Watch Makers to the King, St James's Square, London', the gilt brass dial with enamelled Roman hour and Arabic minutes, the centre inscribed 'Straubhar A Strasbourg' beneath a moonphase to the arch inscribed 'Phases de la lune', the trefoil shaped case inlaid in brass with scrolling flowering foliage and with scrolling foliate ormolu mounts, the sides with detachable flowerhead grilles, the top with a leather covered opening, on a similarly decorated stand, the back inscribed 'Rentzsch, Watch Maker to the King, St James's Square London, with a pendulum (2)

84.7cm high, 52cm wide, 37cm deep (max)

Provenance

H.R.H Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland, Windsor Castle, possibly removed from Windsor Castle when the Duke of Cumberland became King of Hanover.

Marienburg Castle, Hanover, where acquired directly from the family c.1998.

Property of a Collector.

Catalogue Note

The inscription 'Straubhar A Strasbourg' on the dial refers to Johann Jakob Straubhaar, a clockmaker active in Strasbourg between around 1720 and 1750.

Sigismund Rentzsch is listed as working in St James's Square from 1813 to around 1842 and as a maker until 1857, during which time he was appointed as Watchmaker to The King, Queen and Royal Family, a title he expanded upon to include 'their Majesties the Dowager Queen, The King of Hanover, The king of Belgium and the rest of the Royal Family'.

It is not entirely certain when this clock came into the collection of H.R.H. Ernest Augustus but if it wasn't already in the Royal Collection it is likely to have been bought from a London based dealer in the early 19th century when the demand for French works of art was on a high. Perhaps on a request for a reliable clock, the earlier case was fitted with the later movement before being sent to Hanover when the Duke ascended to the throne.

The back of the case has two inventory numbers for the Palais Penzing, Vienna from inventories carried out on the collections of Ernst August, 3rd Duke of Hanover, in 1881 and 1901.