Large Boulle Marquetry Hunting Cartel Clock, 18th Century

An 18th-century cartel clock, known as a hunting clock, crafted in Boulle marquetry of tortoiseshell and brass, adorned with gilt bronze mounts. The scene depicts, at the top, a huntsman sounding his hunting horn, and a beater in the center surrounded by several hounds around a boar. Above, other dogs bark near a stag's head. The base of the clock is decorated with a boar's head and acanthus leaves. The dial with enamel cartouches is signed BAILLON in Paris (a dynasty of four generations of clockmakers), as is the movement. A rare hunting clock belonging to the group known as Chantilly clocks, it was commissioned by the Duke of Condé for his château around 1750; it was designed by Clouzier. Louis XV also had one made for Versailles, and two examples are kept at the Museum of Hunting and Nature in Paris. H: 142.5 cm W: 48 cm D: 25 cm