The high price was partly due to the clock’s history: it had once ticked in the Royal Palace in Turin, and a plaque on the base reported that it had been presented by King Charles Albert (of Sardinia) to the Comte de Seyssel in July 1840. It had subsequently belonged to the Rothschild Collections.
The clock itself takes the form of a pivoting globe with two horizontal dials (hours and minutes) topped by an eagle with outspread wings. The globe sits atop an Ionic capital and tapering pyramid, embellished with oval polychrome scènes galantes above grisaille gouache cupid medallions, on a gilt-bronze base with clawed corner feet linked by swags.
Italian furniture was also in the spotlight at the Delvaux(15.55% buyer’s premium) sale on June 28 where a pair of painted, two-drawered Sicilian 18th century commodes, right, with hoofed feet and symmetrical floral cartouches against a blue ground with rococo embellishment, similar to a commode in the Palazzo Spinola in Genoa, led the list at €64,000 (£41,200), well clear of estimate.
A timepiece with a past
FRANCE: THE Louis XVI pyramid clock, 2ft 1in (63cm) and confidently attributed to bronzier François Vion, soared to a double-estimate €200,000 (£129,000), despite the fact that the escapement and pendulum suspension had been replaced, at De Nicolaÿ (15/10% buyer’s premium) on June 26.
