A Parisian Louis XV cartel clock
Ormolu clock with glazed white enamel dial and pierced hands. 14-day running pendulum movement with verge escapement, thread suspension and striking on a bell. The bronze stamped c couronné on the outer right edge. The dial and plate signed "J Bte Baillon AParis No-2315". The winding thread replaced, a small hole to the left edge of the case. H c. 51, W 31.5 cm.
Jean-Baptiste Baillon, 1745 - 49.
Jean-Baptiste Baillon (active 1727 - 1772) was one of the most famous watchmakers in France because he built the most elaborate and precious movements. As of 1737 at the latest he became a regular guest at the French court and worked for Queen Marie Leszczyńska as Premier Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Reine, and from 1770 for Queen Marie-Antoinette. Madame Pompadour also owned a porcelain watch with a movement built by him. In 1753 Berthoud described his workshop as "the finest and richest watchmaking workshop". Baillon used cases by the best bronziers of his time: Jean-Jacques Caffieri, Jean-Baptiste Osmond, Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain and Balthazar Lieutaud.
Literature
For this maker see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris 3/1972, p. 21.
Cf. Ottomeyer/Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Bd. I, München 1986, p. 115, illus. 2.5.4.
Cf. Alcouffe/Dion-Tenenbaum/Mabille, Les bronzes du Louvre, Dijon 2004, p. 76 f., illus. 33.