Rousseau and Voltaire thermometer clock, Paris circa 1778

Exceptional pendulum in finely chiseled bronze and gilded with mercury, églomisé* glass and blackened wood.

Model says to "The Dispute of Rousseau and Voltaire".
The clock rests on a multi-lobed base in blackened wood enriched with interlacing friezes in gilded bronze.
Above, on a mound, Rousseau and Voltaire are both leaning and facing each other.
They are richly dressed in frock coats, waistcoats embellished with lace and wear wigs and hats.
At their feet, books are strewn on the ground.
The drum on which they are leaning contains the movement and the white enameled dial which is signed "Causard Horloger Seul la cour"*.
Two silver hands adorned with rhinestones indicate the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals.
Above the drum, an obelisk crowned with a pine cone presents a spiraled thermometer on a white églomisé glass background.



A coat of arms under the crown of a marquis bears the mention "Duel of a poet" in the central cartouche.
The plate indicates the heat records with the temperature of Senegal, of Paris in 1753, the body temperature of a hen, the culture of silkworms, the temperate temperature, that of the solidification of water or even the records cold for Paris with the years 1709, 1740, 1754, 1767 and 1776.
The plate is signed "VAFFE Fecit".

Original movement with silk thread suspension in perfect working order.
Strikes the hours and half hours.
Springs signed "Richard 1778".*

Thermometer in working order.

Beautiful original mercury gilding.

Parisian work from the beginning of the Louis XVI period around 1778.

Similar model in the collections of the Carnavalet museum in Paris. (Inv. No. MB744)