LOUIS XV PERIOD "AU CHINOIS" ALCOVE CARTEL In chased and gilt bronze bearing apocryphal marks with a crowned C, the white enamelled dial signed "Aury a Paris", the movement with striking on demand by means of a print signed "Aury AParis", inscribed in a case surmounted by a Chinese man holding a parasol; accidents to the parasol. H. 55 cm (21 2/3 in.) l. 34 cm (13 1/3 in.) Jean-André Aury, Master in 1743 Provenance: Sale Artcurial Paris, 13 December 2023, lot 26 ; Acquired during the sale by the current owner. Bibliography: G. Wannenes, A. Wannenes, Les plus belles pendules françaises de Louis XIV à l'Empire, Edizioni Polistampa, Florence, 2013, p. 101 (reproduced). Comparative bibliography: H. Ottomeyer, P. Proschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 119, fig. 2.6.4 Tardy, La Pendule Française, Part I, p. 196, fig. 4. A Louis XV ormolu cartel d'alcove, the dial and the movement by Jean-André Aury On the basis of surviving examples, all with minor differences in the overall composition and quality of the chasing, this model appears to have been quite popular from the 18th century onwards. A comparable model, signed by Fortin, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol I, p. 119, fig. 2.6.4 while a second, the dial signed by François Autray, is in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (inv. 8587). Finally, a cartel of this model can be seen in a watercolour by Olaf Fridsberg (1728-1795) in the National Museum in Stockholm depicting the salon of Countess Ulla Tessin. Among the rare comparable pieces that have appeared on the market in recent years is one sold at Sotheby's New York on 2 February 2019, lot 809, and another sold at Christie's New York on 19 October 2007, lot 205.