Offered by Franck Baptiste Provence
Large wall light in finely chiseled and mercury-gilded bronze.
Asymmetrical rocaille-shaped model made up of windings of acanthus forming mounds, from which spring bouquets of flowers: roses, sunflowers, lilies ... decorated with knotted ribbons.
The "gills" decorated with openwork grids simulating the scale of a fish.
In the center, the bezel reveals a white enamelled dial and two finely perforated hands indicating the Roman numerals for the hours and the Arabic numerals for the minutes.
The dial as the back plate of the movement signed: “Tifenne à Paris”. *
The box stamped lower left: "St Germain" *
The original movement in perfect working order strikes the hours and a half, it has been revised and cleaned by our craftsman watchmaker.
The suspension was modified in the 19th century.
High quality chiselling and original mercury gilding with a shiny and matt double patina.
Work of the master founder-chaser Jean-Joseph de St Germain, Paris Louis XV period around 1765.
Height: 84cm, Width: 48cm
* Jean Louis Tiphesne or Tifenne, received as a watchmaker in Paris as a master's son in 1743, he worked for his father Jean Tifenne rue de Gesvres from 1748 until the latter's death in 1772, then he remained in the workshop of his mother who continued the activity as a widow, before settling in rue des Trois Morts in 1778.
(Source: Page 616 of the Tardy Dictionary of French Watchmakers)
* Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain (1719-1791) received master foundry in earth and sand by masterpiece on July 15, 1748.
He is one of the greatest bronziers of the reign of Louis XV.
In 1765 he became a juror of the founders and chasers guild, a staunch defender of copyright, he proposed and voted for the obligation of bronzers to sign their works.
Indeed as he indicates in an advertising label of his workshop in rue St Nicolas: he sells "all kinds of boxes and fittings in ormolu" and "makes the designs and models in wax"
He is the creator of many successful models such as the two-Chinese cartel, the rhinoceros, elephant, bull clock…. and therefore one of the most copied artists during his lifetime.
He will bring numerous lawsuits, in particular to his former apprentice Jean Goyer who became a cabinetmaker specializing in cartel boxes, forged his bronze models and melts them himself!
In addition to the many bronziers plagiarizing his work, they are therefore also cabinetmakers who anxious to save money, allow themselves to melt their own bronzes, which in this 18th century is totally prohibited by the laws of the kingdom.
Unfortunately for St Germain the obligation to mark works will be applied very little, if not by a few great founders, also authors of successful models and victims like him of the violation of copyright.
The Caffieri family or Robert Osmond, for example, have set out to mark their works.
The majority of other members preferring to remain anonymous, either to be free to blend the successful models of others, or for reasons of subcontracting to the haberdashery merchants responsible for resale in their shops.
Our opinion:
Our ceremonial cartel features an asymmetrical rocaille with an abundant vegetal decoration which allows us to date it from the decade of 1760, a period when “the rocaille” begins to be tempered by ornamentalists strongly influenced by a return to ancient forms due to the rediscoveries of the great ancient sites like Herculaneum or Pompeii.
While the first attempts are generally not very happy, this is not the case with our cartel, which offers us a lively and racy line with rockeries perfectly balanced by a carefully placed decor.
Jean-Joseph de St Germain gives us here a perfectly harmonious whole which constitutes a very good example of the genre.
In addition to the purity of the design which is the fruit of a long research, he shows an incredible mastery in the realization of our cartel by choosing to oppose the rockeries that he will treat in a smooth manner, without artifice and with a brilliant gilding, with a vegetal decoration which he treats with a lot of relief and an amatie gilding.
Each leaf and petal will be taken cold, in order to provide them with meticulous details, such as the tiny veins of the leaves or the texture of their pistils, then the whole will be patiently "punched" in order to obtain a texture. slightly grainy which brings a slight relief and softens the gilding.
The carving work carried out on our piece represents in our eyes the quintessence of the know-how of Jean Joseph de St Germain.
Presented in perfect condition, our cartel with pure lines and refined decorations, is one of the most beautiful pieces of the master held in private hands.
