A VERY RARE ORMOLU-MOUNTED WHITE MARBLE AND DERBY BISCUIT PORCELAIN MANTEL TIMEPIECE Benjamin Vu...

A VERY RARE ORMOLU-MOUNTED WHITE MARBLE AND DERBY BISCUIT PORCELAIN MANTEL TIMEPIECE Benjamin Vulliamy, London, dated 1786 The impressive group depicting a porcelain putto stepping toward the dial set into a fluted marble column on a heavy ormolu plinth signed and dated Vulliamy LONDON 1786, the stepped marble base mounted with a gilt armillary sphere, porcelain urn (with lift-off cover), books, and an array of mathematical instruments. The 4 inch white enamel dial with bead-cast gilt bezel framing the gold dotted minute track and gold Roman hour, with serpentine hands. The single gut fusee movement mounted within the column and protected by two sliding brass covers, the tall rectangular plates united by five turned pillars, deadbeat escapement to a typical lozenge-section wooden rod pendulum terminating in a heavy brass-faced bob. The backplate signed Vulliamy, London in a foliate border. 37cms (14.5ins) high. Footnotes: This clock is one of a distinctive range of clocks in white marble cases with figures in Derby biscuit porcelain that were produced in London by the firm of Vulliamy & Son in the late eighteenth century, and are now regarded as outstanding examples of British neo-classicism. They were first created in the early 1780s by Benjamin Vulliamy (1747-1811), still only a junior partner in the family firm but already the King's Clockmaker in his own right, in a determined attempt to challenge the predominance of imported French ornamental clocks in the houses of wealthy and fashionable Britons. His justification was patriotic as well as commercial, since Britain and France were then at war, following France's intervention on the side of the colonists in the American war of Independence. [1] Following the end of the war in 1783 and improved commercial relations between the two countries, Vulliamy was concerned that the market he had identified for what he described as his 'new branch of English clocks' would disappear, but in fact his project continued to be successful, leading in time to the firm making a wide range of ornamental goods to furnish the houses of the wealthy. This was due to Vulliamy's ability to select and get the best performance from a network of independent artists, suppliers and craftspeople, and also to his personal talents as a designer, sensitive to the changing tastes of his wealthy and very demanding customers, who included the King, the Prince of Wales, and other members of Britain's social elite. Vulliamy's sculptural clocks followed French fashion in their neo-classical appearance, but while contemporary French clocks used mainly bronze and ormolu for their cases and figures, Vulliamy decided to use white marble with allegorical figures in white biscuit porcelain, presumably in imitation of the Parian marble of ancient Greek and Roman statues. Vulliamy designed the figures himself, using his extensive library of works on classical art and architecture as a source [2], and had them modelled in London by a number of young sculptors who were recent Gold Medallists of the Royal Academy Schools. The models were then sent to William Duesbury's Derby Porcelain Manufactury to be made in biscuit porcelain which, given the nature of soft-paste porcelain and Vulliamy's demanding requirements, often proved to be a difficult process, particularly for his larger figures. In line with the morally uplifting tendencies of neo-classicism, these clocks were intended to convey an allegorical message through the identity and position of the figures and suitable attributes in ormolu, sometimes assisted with a classical quotation. If the meaning is not always obvious to modern eyes, it was evidently important to contemporary observers. The German traveller Sophie von La Roche, who visited Vulliamy's shop in 1786 (the date of this clock), noted that 'French artists have certainly created some fine things --- in clocks --- but I never yet saw anything so noble, simple and instructive from their hands. All the images are Greek figures in biscuit porcelain and Mr Vulliamy's physiognomy and gentle modest person hide a store of Greek ideas and moral allegory.' [3] The design of the current clock, with the clock set in a marble column accompanied by a single 'boy' and a campana-shaped vase (also in Derby biscuit), was one of the earliest used by Vulliamy. Previous to the emergence of this clock, just four of this design were known to survive, with different ormolu attributes around the column to vary the allegory. One of these clocks is dated 1783, another dated 1787 (Sotheby's 17.5.22 lot 47), and two have serial numbers dating from the late 1780s - Nos. 175 and 189 (at Chatsworth probably since purchase). (The numbering of Vulliamy's clocks began earlier but the number was not engraved on the clocks until c.1788.) It is not known who first bought the present clock, and it predates the surviving Vulliamy manufacturing records. However, it is possible to suggest the main people involved in its manufacture, since the firm continued to use the same suppliers for many years. It is probable that the high-quality movement, which has elongated plates to fit the marble column and Vulliamy's usual half-deadbeat escapement with heavy pendulum bob and ebony rod, was made by James Bullock, a clockmaker who worked at various addresses in the parish of St. Andrew Holborn up to his death in 1801. The marble column and base would have been supplied by J. Day of Brewers Row, Westminster, who was working with the Vulliamys by 1785. The biscuit porcelain figure was modelled by John Deare (1759-1798), a Royal Academy gold medallist in 1780, and as already noted, was made at the Derby factory, which also supplied the covered vase. [4] 1. For a detailed study of these clocks with Derby figures based on the surviving correspondence between Vulliamy and the factory, see A.P. Ledger and Roger Smith (eds.), Benjamin Vulliamy and the Derby Porcelain Manufactory 1784-1795, Derby Museum and Art Gallery (2007). Also T. Clifford, 'Vulliamy Clocks & British Sculpture', Apollo, vol. 132 (Oct 1990), pp. 226-237; and 'New evidence concerning Vulliamy clocks and Duesbury porcelain', Derby Porcelain International Society, Journal 2, (1991), pp. 35-52. 2. For Vulliamy's books, see 'Benjamin Vulliamy's Library: A Collection of Neo-Classical Design Sources.' The Burlington Magazine, vol 141, no 1155 (June 1999) pp. 328-337. 3. C. Williams (trans.), Sophie in London. The diary of Sophie von La Roche, (1933), pp. 100-1. 4. The work of Deare and the other modellers employed on Vulliamy's sculptural clocks is discussed in Ledger and Smith. (see Note 1). It also notes that the earliest surviving Derby Day Books (1786-94) show that Vulliamy bought 12 biscuit 'boys' in 1786 (p. 110). There is no record of him buying any campana vases in those years, so he had presumably bought several earlier, when one was used on a similar clock in 1783 (p. 115). With thanks to Roger Smith. 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