Madame Geoffrin Marble & Bronze Mantel Clock
'In the Salon of Madame Geoffrin in 1755' with intellectuals including Diderot, Turgot, d'Alembert, Condillac seated around a bust of Voltaire, painted in 1812 by Lemonnier
Scroll down for further history and pictures of Madame Geoffrin and her salon
A white marble and bronze mantel clock, the eight day movement striking the hours and half hours on a bell, with outside countwheel strikework and a silk suspension. The backplate is engraved in scroll 'Leroy a Paris' and is stamped with the trademark of the maker of the 'roulant-blanc', Japy Freres, along with the serial number '1616'. The white enamel dial has black Roman hour numerals and blued steel decorative 'heart' hands and is signed 'Leroy a Paris'. The white marble case has gilded brass ormolu feet and cast mouldings to step and is surmounted with an allegorical bronze figure of Madame Geoffrin reclining against the clock. It is known that she had her own copy of this clock and numerous others which she gave away including one to Diderot (see below).
The design of the bronze is by Laurent Guiard (1732-1788) and depicts Madame Geoffrin (1699-1777), who ran an important salon in Paris for artists and politicians. The form of the bronze is believed to have been taken from a painting by Jean Marc Nattier who had painted Madame Geoffrin in a similar pose of a student in 1738 and called 'Study'. Originally cast by Edme Roy (Master 1745), the bronze was re-cast numerous times and was used by members of the Leroy clockmaking family on a number of occasions. By the early 1800's the fondeur Henry Dasson is known to have cast this model for use on this style of clock. Originally known as 'l'Emploi du Temps', which refers to the passing of time without neglecting it's mystery, it became known as 'Pendulum clock a la Geoffrin' as named by Diderot having been given an example by Madame Geoffrin. The first example, and that owned by her, was made by Christian Baulez and was left in her will of February 1777 to Simon-Charles Boutin. The clockmaker Baulez suggests at the time that her notebook stating the clock was the first in the series and called ‘ma pendule de Guyard’ was a mis-spelling for Laurent Guiard who was celebrated after exhibiting a model for an equestrian statue of Louis XV at Versailles in January 1754. Madame Geoffrin then commissioned Guiard to provide the model for her clock in that year. The next two examples were supplied in 1758 by the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux for the duc de Bourgogne and the comte du Luc and both had movements signed by Le Roy, albeit an earlier member of the family to this example. Madame Geoffrin subsequently commissioned another example in 1768 housing a movement by Musson, which was presented to Denis Diderot, the encyclopediest, which is now housed in the Musée du Breuil de Saint-Germain, Langres. It was Baulez who also suggested that the female figure representing 'The Employment of Time’ had been inspired by Nattier’s portrait of Madame Geoffrin as mentioned earlier. Other members of Madame Geoffrin’s circle to own such clocks included the banker Jean-Joseph de Laborde, the financier Nicolas Beaujon and the duc de la Vrillière. A good example is in the Wallace Collection in London.
The Paris 'salon' of this period was a place, usually run by a woman of independent wealth, where men of enlightenment, rarely women who were felt to be a distraction, would meet to discuss any number of topics from the politics of the day to their own, and others, works and writings. The salon madame was often a great listener and would take on the role of an agony aunt to her members and provide a degree of measure in the lives of highly artistic and intelligent individuals. A further frequent visitor and friend to Madame Geoffrin was Madame de Pompadour who would sneak away from Versailles to meet with the intellectuals of the day.
The painting 'Study' by Jean Marc Nattier
Marie-Therese Rodet Geoffrin was a French hostess who ran her salon in the Hotel de Rambouillet on the rue Saint-Honore, Paris from 1749 until her death in 1777 for the benefit of artists, intellectuals and politicians. She had married Pierre Francois Geoffrin in 1713, a lieutenant-colonel in the National Guard and director of the glassworks at Saint-Gobain, a rich intellectual and a member of the new Bourgeoisie but with whom she found she had no rapport. He died in 1750 just as her salon was taking on prominence. Madame Geoffrin would have her 'dinner' parties start at one o'clock in the afternoon allowing those present a longer period for discussion than if they had been wholly evening affairs and split her groups so that on mondays she would entertain the artists and on wednesdays the men of letters and other intellectuals. She was a great listener and was objective in her views of the works of poets and artists often giving advice that was eagerly sought. With such diversity of intellectual and artistic prowess along with expected large egos there were many counter-currents of opinion. It was her consummate skill in blending these diverse but powerful elements, and holding them within harmonious limits, that made the reputation of the autocratic hostess. It was noted by Abbe Morellet that her ability to attract foreign dignitaries such as Horace Walpole and Stanislas Poniatowski, later King of Poland, to her salon allowed for the spreading of the Parisien thought to a wider, foreign audience. He wrote: "She has made for fifty years the charm of her society. She has been constantly, habitually virtuous and benevolent. Her salon brought authors and artists into direct relation with distinguished patrons, especially foreigners, and thus contributed largely to the spread of French art and letters. It was counted among the institutions of the eighteenth century."
The entrance to the salon at 374, Rue Saint-Honore in 2006
She was a frequent visitor to the Eglise Saint-Roch, the most fashionable parish church at this time and situated close by on the rue Saint-Honore. One Easter she knelt on the cold marble floor and caught an infection that left her barely able to speak and nearly paralyzed. She died a few years after and d'Alembert, Julie de Lespinasse and the other philosophes asserted that it was the church floor that killed her. She was then buried within the church as was Diderot who had been given an earlier example of this clock by her, although his remains were later moved elsewhere.
The Eglise Saint-Roch where Madame Geoffrin often prayed and where she is buried
(Note the clock made in 1835 by the famous Paris maker Lepaute)
An interesting note is that Madame Geoffrin was a great financial supporter of Diderot (as seen earlier when she presented him with one of her first clocks) and d'Alembert in their quest to publish an Encyclopedia and which was finally published in 1772. It contained many fine plates and writings on clocks, the section being known as 'Encyclopedie de Diderot et d'Alembert, Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers, Horlogerie et Orfevrerie (Paris 1751-1772)'
The tooling to the front cover of my personal copy of the Encyclopedie
Madame Geoffrin sits with members of her salon as Abbe Delille recites his poem La Conversation
Basile Charles Le Roy was the Master Clockmaker to Napoleon & along with his son Charles-Louis were clockmaker’s to the Princess Pauline and the Duke de Bourbon. Examples of their work are in all the major collections as well in the Ministere de la Guerre, Paris. The Maison de Le Roy was founded in 1785 at Palais Royal & continued until the death of Charles at Versailles in 1865.
Height: 16½ inches.
Price: £2,850.00