Pendule Monumentale A L'Elephant
"Gilt and patinated bronze" · "Clock case and movement (horology)"
Why Pendule Monumentale A L'Elephant matters
This entry exists because the phrase appears in market and dealer listings as if it were an artist credit. A review of auction house lot notes, dealer catalogues, and museum collection records does not identify any individual artist by this name. Pendule a l'elephant, the elephant clock, is instead a recognized model of French decorative art: a Louis XV gilt and patinated bronze mantel clock built around an elephant-form case, produced by several named bronziers and horlogers across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The value of this profile is in making that distinction clear and pointing toward the makers who are actually documented, rather than presenting an invented biography.
- Media
- "Gilt and patinated bronze", "Clock case and movement (horology)"
- Movement
- "Louis XV decorative arts", "Rococo"
- Signature motifs
- "Elephant-form clock case", "Rocaille or musical base", "Gilt and patinated bronze"
By the numbers
- Clock model, not a single documented artistEntity typePer research dossier; no individual is confirmed under this name
- Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain; Jacques CaffieriCase attributionLeading bronziers most often linked to the model
- J.-B. Baillon III; P.-P. Barat; Jean MoisyMovement makersClockmakers who signed dials on related examples
- NoneCatalogue raisonneNo individual artist archive exists for this name
Biography
No birth date, death date, nationality, or education record exists for an artist named Pendule Monumentale A L'Elephant, because no such individual is documented in auction records, museum archives, or the art press as of 2026. The phrase instead describes a clock type associated with several named French craftsmen. The bronze case is most often attributed to the bronzier Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain, circa 1719 to 1791, or, on earlier examples, to Jacques Caffieri, whose exact dates are not confirmed in the sources reviewed. The movement and dial are typically signed by a separate maitre horloger, among them Jean-Baptiste Baillon III, Pierre-Philippe Barat, received as maitre in 1742, and Jean Moisy, whose exact dates are also not confirmed in the sources reviewed. On later nineteenth century examples the case is sometimes signed by the animal sculptor Christophe Fratin, 1801 to 1864. These figures held guild master status, but no source reviewed documents formal schooling, degrees, academy enrollment, or royal appointments for any of them in connection with this clock model.
Critical reception
Scholarship and museum cataloguing treat pendule a l'elephant as a category of French Rococo and Louis XV decorative art rather than as the output of one artist. Examples are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Fondation Ephrussi de Rothschild, among other public collections referenced in dealer and museum records reviewed for this profile. Curatorial attention tends to focus on the case's rocaille ornament and exotic subject matter as an expression of eighteenth century French taste for chinoiserie, and on resolving which bronzier or horloger produced a given case or movement, rather than on a single artist's critical reception.
Market
No single, fully documented all time auction record exists for an artist of this name, because the name does not correspond to one attributable body of work. Prices for individual pendule a l'elephant examples, tied to specific named makers, have varied widely. Reported price references for related examples, cited by the French valuation source Mr Expert, range from about EUR 95,000 to EUR 185,000, but the auction house, city, and exact sale date behind these figures are not confirmed in the records reviewed, and the sources do not tie either figure to a specific base type or maker attribution. Sotheby's Paris listed a Louis XV musical pendule a l'elephant attributed to Saint-Germain, in its 2024 Treasures, Paris sale, at an estimate of EUR 80,000 to 120,000, without a confirmed hammer price in the sources available. Given the range of makers, condition, and attribution behind each example, prices for this clock type should be read case by case rather than as a single artist's market trend.
Museum collections
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Fondation Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Authentication and provenance
No catalogue raisonne.
There is no catalogue raisonne because this entry does not correspond to a single documented individual artist. Pendule a l'elephant is a recognized model of French decorative art, most often a Louis XV gilt bronze mantel clock, produced and signed by several distinct bronziers and clockmakers across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Verification for any specific example depends on the signed dial, movement, or case attribution to one of those named makers, not on a single artist archive.
Primary reference: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6375842
What collectors should know
Anyone encountering Pendule Monumentale A L'Elephant as an artist credit, in a listing, database, or catalogue, should treat it as a description of the object rather than an attribution to a person. There is no catalogue raisonne and no gallery or estate representation to verify, because no individual artist exists under this name. Collectors evaluating an actual elephant clock should look for a signed dial or movement, case attribution to a known bronzier such as Saint-Germain or Caffieri, and documented provenance, since value and authenticity for this clock type rest on maker attribution and condition rather than on a unified artist market.
Further reading and resources
Data current as of 2026-07-13.
