Cartel Clock, Michel Stollewerck, 1745-1750
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1745-1750
Cartel Clock, Michel Stollewerck, 1745-1750 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 1745-1750. The museum's brief description reads: An ormolu cartel clock.
Museum description: Case: This cartel clock was originally supported on an ormolu bracket. Dial: White enamel dial, 8.9cm (diameter), of conventional layout. Winding hole piercing and signed in centre 'Stollewerk Paris'. There are gilt hands, the hour-hand being pierced, and there is another hole for regulation above the dial top. Movement: Going train with barrel at the bottom centre of the movement, the fusee of 9 turns to the right.
Verge escapement, with crown wheel of 35T, crutch attachd to the verge. The pendulum is 13.6cm long, suspended from a wound-up cord, with a lenticular bob, 4.1cm diameter. The locking-plate striking mechanism to left, with giong barrel. An external count-wheel is numbered 1 to 12 with a second wheel of train, allowing a sngle stroke at half ours. The museum record gives material recorded as ormolu, enamel; measurements Height 30.5 cm; Width 20 cm; Depth 11 cm; Weight 4 kg plus ? kg; place associated: Paris; maker recorded: Michel Stollewerck.
These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
This cartel clock was originally supported by a matching bracket. The maker of the movement Michel Stollenwerck was of German birth but recorded in Paris by 1730. He first established his workshop in the precincts of the Abbey St Germain des Pres in 1739 but moved to the rue de la Comedie Française by 1747. Stollenwerck had exceptional mechanical talent and specialized in musical clocks. In 1776 Pere Marie-Dominique-Joseph Engramelle noted 'The carillons of Stollenwerck which have been transported to China, to the Grand Mogul, to Turkey, and to the Hurons, have enchanted the sovereigns of these vast countries'. The editors of the Encyclopedie chose one of Stollenwerck's clocks to illustrate the article on Carillon. Stollenwerck's movements were contained in cases by the best workers in ormolu including J.P.Latz, R.Osmond, Morlay and E.Roy. They were gilded by I.P.Gobert. This example, although relatively modest, incorporates, as finial a Cupid armed with fleche of arrows, his bow slung behind him. The presence of Cupid representing Love alludes to the celebrated clock model by André Charles Boulle in which Cupid is shown as the Conqueror of Time. Stollenwerck supplied clocks for the French nobility and the crowned heads of Europe including King Stanislas Leszczynski, Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III of Saxony.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- ormolu, enamel
- Dimensions
- Height 30.5 cm; Width 20 cm; Depth 11 cm; Weight 4 kg plus ? kg
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Ormolu case retaining its original 18th century surface chasing. The side fret panels are later replacements. The dial and movement are contemporary but the back plate has been cut down to fit into the case. The dial plate has a greenish tinge to the edge characteristic of 18th century enamelling.…
- Maker recorded
- Michel Stollewerck
- Place recorded
- Paris
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- The movement is inscribed 'MStollewerck' and the dial bears the name 'Stollewerck a Paris'
Identification
- Museum attribution
- Michel Stollewerck
- Museum object name
- Cartel Clock
- Museum object number
- 997-1882
- Museum system number
- O382411
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the museum record and a specialist reference.