A fine and rare Louis XVI ormolu, patinated bronze and white marble clock circa 1770, with movement by Robin, the case attributed to Edme Roy

the white enamelled dial signed Robin and by the enameller Dubuisson, the movement contained within a drum-shaped case and signed on the backplate Robin a Paris, flanked by the standing figure of Hannibal wearing a cloak, tunic and breastplate, his hand holding the the gold rings of the Roman cavaliers above an ormolu-mounted white marble urn; the oval ormolu base fitted with Hannibal's helmet and shield, the white marble plinth inset with ormolu plaques cast with playful putti.  The base now painted white.

Sold, Regis Bailleul, Bayeux, France, July 14, 1988

Only two other examples of this model, known as "Annibal comptant les anneaux d'or des chevaliers romains après la bataille de Zama" are recorded in the current literature.  Presumably the first, executed in patinated bronze and ormolu on a red marble base, was delivered for the Grand Appartement of the Comte d'Artois at Versailles in 1773, and is now at Versailles (illustrated, La Folie d'Artois, Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, 1988, pls. 15, 16, 17, pp. 106-107); the case is signed by the bronzier Edme Roy and the clock movement by Pinon.  The figure of Hannibal on the Comte d'Artois example is fitted with an ormolu skirt and the urn flanking the clock is executed entirely in ormolu; the molded red griotte marble base is unadorned.  The second, with red marble base, was in the collection of Sir Richard Wallace, 2 rue Laffitte, inventoried after his death in 1812 and illustrated, P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, III, London, 1996, p. 1548.

The impressive scale and quality of the present clock, together with the fact that it incorporates a movement by Robert Robin would suggest an impressive, possibly royal, provenance, particularly in view of the fact that one of the only other two recorded examples was delivered for the Comte d'Artois, Louis XVI's brother. 

Robert Robin (1742-1799), clockmaker to Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette and to the Republic, was one of the leading French horologists of the 18th century.  His mechanical inventions were many, but he is also known for highly decorative clocks.  Little is known of his early life. He became master clockmaker in 1767 and established his workshop in the Faubourg St. Honoré.  In 1785 he was granted a lodging in the Galeries du Louvre where he lived until his death.  Robin created modern, elegant mantel clocks and worked with the leading bronziers of the day such as R. and J.B. Osmond, Thomire, Edme Roy, Galle, Rémond, et al; he also used the finest enamellers of the day including Dubuisson, Coteau and Merlet.  He provided a great number of clocks to the royal family; the Queen alone owned twenty-three clocks by him according to a 1793 inventory. 

His royal connections did not cause Robin to suffer during or after the Revolution, and he presented a decimal clock to the National Convention in 1793.

Gobin Etienne Dubuisson (1731 - d.after 1815) lived in Lunéville and Strasbourg and then at Chantilly.  In 1756 he was employed at the Sèvres manufactory as a flower painter.  He was, with Joseph Coteau, the pre-eminent enameller of his day, specialising in watch cases and clock dials. 

Edme Roy, fondeur was elected juré in 1758.