Print Format - La Pendulerie

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Olin - Osmond
Day Triumphing Over Night Mantel Clock,
Louis XVI period
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Jean-Charles Olin,
Case Attributed to Robert Osmond
Rare Neo-Classical Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock
Paris, early Louis XVI period, circa 1775-1780
Height 57 cm; width 38 cm; depth 19 cm
The enamel dial, signed Olin à Paris, indicates the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals;
the case is of finely chased gilt bronze. At the summit a rooster, symbol of the dawn, perches proudly on a cloud
base; at the sides are scrolling columns with pinecone finials; under the dial, acanthus leaves and a floweret. On
either side of the dial are two magnificent winged putti; one, an allegory of the Night, holds an oil lamp. The
architectural base is richly ornamented with ribbon-tied laurel toruses, friezes of interlacing motifs and projecting
pilasters decorated with rosettes and striated reserves.
The present clock’s unusual design places it among the finest creations of the last quarter of the 18th century. Quite
popular with collectors of the period, the model was almost certainly created by the renowned bronzier Robert
Osmond (1711-1789). Among the rare comparable examples known to exist are two clocks (one in gilt bronze, the
other in gilt and patinated bronze), illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age
au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 237, fig. C et D. A third clock, with dial signed Ragot, was in the collection of
Madame Lelong (sold in Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, April 27 – May 15, 1903, lot 350); yet another, with dial
signed Gilles l’aîné, was formerly in the Bensimon collection (sold in Paris, Mes Couturier-Nicolay, November 18 –
19, 1981). One further clock, with an ebony base decorated with gilt bronze wave mounts, was previously in the
Perez de Olaguer-Feliu collection in Barcelona (illustrated in Luis Monreal y Tejada, Relojes antiguos (1500-1850),
Coleccion F. Perez de Olaguer-Feliu, Barcelone, 1955, p. 136, catalogue n° 230).
Robert Osmond (1711- 1789)
Jean-Baptiste Osmond (1742-after 1790)
French bronze-caster Robert Osmond was born in Canisy, near Saint-Lô; he began his apprenticeship in the
workshop of Louis Regnard, maître fondeur en terre et en sable, and became a master bronzier in Paris in 1746.
He is recorded as working in the rue des Canettes in the St Sulpice parish, moving to the rue de Mâcon in 1761.
Robert Osmond became a juré, thus gaining a certain degree of protection of his creative rights. In 1753, he sent
for his nephew in Normandy, and in 1761, the workshop, which by that time had grown considerably, moved to the
rue de Macon. The nephew, Jean-Baptiste Osmond (1742-after 1790) became a master in 1764 and as of that
date worked closely with his uncle, to such a degree that it is difficult to differentiate between the contributions of
each.
Robert appears to have retired around 1775. Jean-Baptiste, who remained in charge of the workshop after the
retirement of his uncle, encountered difficulties and went bankrupt in 1784. Robert Osmond died in 1789.
Prolific bronze casters and chasers, the Osmonds worked with equal success in both the Louis XV and the Neoclassical styles. Prized by connoisseurs of the period, their work was distributed by clockmakers and marchandsmerciers. Although they made all types of furnishing objects, including fire dogs, wall lights and inkstands, the only
extant works by them are clocks, including one depicting the Rape of Europe (Getty Museum, California) in the
Louis XV style and two important Neo-classical forms, of which there are several examples, as well as a vase with
lions' heads (Musée Condé, Chantilly and the Cleveland Museum of Art) and a cartel-clock with chased ribbons
(examples in the Stockholm Nationalmuseum; Paris, Nissim de Camondo Museum). A remarkable clock decorated
with a globe, cupids and a Sèvres porcelain plaque (Paris, Louvre) is another of their notable works.
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Specialising at first in the rocaille style, in the early 1760’s they turned to the new Neo-classical style and soon
numbered among its greatest practitioners. They furnished cases to the best clockmakers of the period, such as
Montjoye, for whom they made cases for cartonnier and column clocks, the column being one of the favourite motifs
of the Osmond workshop.
Artist Biography :
Jean-Charles Olin (d. after 1789) was one of the most important Parisian clockmakers of the late 18th century. The
brother-in-law of clockmaker Jean-Gabriel Imbert, he initially worked independently, then became a master in 1776
and opened his own workshop in the enclos des Quinze-Vingts. With a rapidly growing reputation, in 1777 he was
elected deputy of his corporation. Like the best clockmakers of his time, he looked to the finest bronziers for his
clock cases, including Antoine Foullet, Robert Osmond and Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain. His clocks were
acquired by some of the most important 18th century collectors. Clocks by Olin are mentioned in the probate
inventories of lawyer Jacques-Augustin Auvray, de Marie-Philippe Donneau, marquis de Visé, and the widow of the
King’s secretary Louis Paris de Treffonds.
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