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Pedestal
  • Pedestal
  • Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732)
  • Probably Gilles-Marie Oppenord (1672 - 1742), Designer
  • France
  • Date: About 1712–20
  • Medium: Walnut, ebony, première-partie Boulle marquetry of brass and turtleshell, gilt bronze, oak back, stained pine bases under feet
  • Object size: 133 x 65.5 x 43.5 cm
  • Inv: F52
  • Location: Large Drawing Room
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Description
Provenance
Further Reading
  • This pedestal is closely linked to a design by Gilles-Marie Oppenord, an architect and designer who was employed, amongst other clients, by the Régent, Philippe, duc d'Orléans. A drawing of a longcase clock for the comte de Toulouse (dated about 1718), attributed to Oppenord, shows a base very similar to the Wallace pedestal. The execution of the comte de Toulouse's clock, and of this pedestal, has been attributed to André-Charles Boulle.

    The pedestal supports a clock (F43), which is a model often supplied by Boulle and can be securely attributed to him. Veneered with 'première-partie' Boulle marquetry of brass and turtleshell, it is mounted with the gilt-bronze figures of Love Triumphing over Time. The movement is by Jacques-Augustin Thuret, who, like Boulle, had lodgings in the Louvre. It is closely related to the mantel clock made by Boulle (also with a movement by Thuret) for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, now in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, which can be dated to about 1712. See also F41 in the Wallace Collection.

    However, recent research suggests that the pedestal may not be from the Boulle workshop, but may be the work of Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt, the father of the architect/designer. This is based on similarities between the mounts of this and other clock pedestals by Oppenordt, as well as the very different 'feel' of the marquetry to that produced in the Boulle workshop. It may be that Boulle and Oppenordt collaborated on commissions, as they both worked for the royal administration and had lodgings in the Louvre. Both workshops may have worked to one design; in this instance, Boulle producing the clock and Oppenordt the pedestal.