An extremely rare and beautiful Louis XVI miniature gilt and patinated and part lacquered bronze and white Carrara marble pendule 'au cheval' of eight day duration by Bernard Cartier, housed in a magnificent case by François Vion, signed on the white enamel dial Cartier à Paris and stamped on the case Vion. The dial, within a pierced paste brilliants bezel, with Roman and Arabic numerals and an exquisite pair of paste brilliants hands, the hour hand with a fleur-de-lis pointer and the minute hand of serpentine-shape.

The movement with anchor escapement, silk thread suspension, striking on the hour and half hour, with outside count wheel. The magnificent case featuring the clock on the back of a prancing dappled Arab stallion with a paste brilliants bow at the top of his tail, gilt reins and a lambrequin saddle cloth, the drum case surmounted by a covered urn with a paste brilliants finial and ring handles with an abundant foliate and floral gilt swag terminating in tasselled pulls suspending from the lid of the urn and falling around the sides of the clock drum. The horse standing on a naturalistically cast arch-shaped rectangular plinth, with a Vitruvian scroll border, edged with paste brilliants and centred at the front by a polychrome painted medallion showing two women in the manner of Watteau, on eight turned feet upon a plain white Carrara marble base

Paris, date circa 1770

Dimensions without marble base: Height 34 cm, width 18.5, depth 9 cm.

Dimensions of the white marble base: Height 3 cm, length 20 cm, depth 10 cm.

Rarely does one find a clock of this quality and such intricate craftsmanship to include such delicate finishes as the paste brilliants bow on the horse's tail. The fact that it is also perfectly decorated on the reverse indicates that it was to be placed in front of a mirror so that it could be enjoyed from all angles. Not only is it of the finest quality but also extremely rare for apart from an example sold by Sotheby's London, 31st December 1974, lot 66, few other models of this clock are known. Designed and made by François Vion (1764-c.1800), it also has the additional attraction of baring his stamp.

François Vion was one of the leading bronziers of his day who became a maître in 1764. Apart from a few decorative gilt bronze accessories such as plinths for statuettes he appears to have specialized in the production of clock cases. As here a number were supported by animals, especially those featuring lions. Among them is one housing a movement by Gudin à Paris made for the Ministère d'Etat, which is now at the Ministry of Finance, Paris. Another pendule 'au lion' was delivered to Louis Joseph, Prince de Condé which was included in an inventory of the Palais Bourbon, 1779 while a further example is housed at Pavlovsk, St. Petersburg. Vion also made a number of cases with classical figures notably one representing The Three Graces, housing a movement by Lepaute à Paris which was made for the comtesse du Barry at Château de Fontainebleau and is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The Musée Municipal, Besançon also owns a clock housed in a case by Vion surmounted by Venus and putti after a design by the sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet, while the Wrightsman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum, New York owns a biscuit porcelain figure of Cupid by Falconet placed on a gilt bronze base by Vion.

Vion is known to have supplied quality cases to a number of leading Parisian clockmakers including Lepaute, Manière, Furet, Cronier, Poitevin and Bernard Cartier who as here signed his clocks simply Cartier à Paris. Although little is known about him we know that Cartier was active during the mid to late eighteenth century. More specifically Tardy notes that by 1764 he was working from the Enclos de l'Abbaye Saint-Germain-des-Prés. He was also at the same address when four years later he witnessed the marriage of his friend Charles-Louis Varnier, founder of experimental physiology. It is tempting to suggest that Bernard Cartier was related to the Parisian jeweller and goldsmith Louis-François Cartier (1755-93) and thus to the latter's grandson Louis-François Cartier (1819-1904), who founded the famous jewellery firm of Cartier. This is yet to be proved but it is possible considering that a clock like this can be likened to an exquisite piece of jewellery. 

Another great attraction of the clock is the abundant paste brilliants sometimes referred to as rhinestones or glass simulants. A limited number of French eighteenth century clocks were decorated with paste brilliants and more generally were reserved for lyre clocks, especially to adorn the swinging pendulum and dial bezel. Essentially created to imitate the appearance of diamonds, paste brilliants first appeared during the 1700s and are a common feature of antique jewellery and to a lesser extent the decorative arts. They were made from glass, which when freshly cut or when in this instance, they have not been subjected to wear and tear, give an immediate impression of being diamonds. However, the lead content of glass makes them soft so when set into a piece of jewellery (when they will be handled more frequently) the facetted edges and faces will soon become rounded and scratched. Further inspection under a microscope reveals other fundamental differences between them and diamonds including air bubbles and flow lines within the stone.