A Fine and Rare Louis XIV Brass-Cased Bracket Clock By Gaudron, Circa 1690

A Fine and Rare Louis XIV Brass-Cased Bracket Clock By Gaudron, Circa 1690.

Surmounted by an ormolu brazier on a stepped caddy top with gadrooned decoration, the sides with large glazed panels on bun feet, the 5.5inch burnished dial with applied blue and white enamel Roman cartouche numerals on a matted ground applied with a shaped nameplate, and blued steel hands, the single train movement united by four pinned tapering pillars with large spring barrel to a tic-tac escapement (with unusual Z-shaped pallets) and a silk-suspended pendulum, repeating the hours and the quarters on three graduated bells and hammers mounted in the caddy and activated via a cord at the base of the clock, signed on the lower edge of the backplate 'Gaudron A Paris'.

Antoine Gaudron Became Master in 1675 and died 1707.

The signature Gaudron à Paris appeared as early as 1660 on clock movements produced by the workshop of Antoine Gaudron, but little is known today about this clockmaker. His works were both admired by colleagues and collected by the French nobility. An examination of Gaudron's will shows that he was successful and prosperous, leaving substantial dowries to his three children and a house pleasantly furnished with numerous pieces of costly Chinese porcelain. 

In 1698 Gaudron brought his two sons into his business. The firm then traded not only in clocks but also in precious stones, paintings, mirrors, porcelain, bronze, and jewels. Gaudron was one of the first Parisian makers to use the newly invented long pendulum in his clocks. He also invented some interesting clock movements with both simple and complicated astronomical indications. Some of the most fashionable ébénistes of the period, including André-Charles Boulle, supplied elaborate clock cases for Gaudron's movements.

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This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance