An Imperial Cartier Guilloché Enameled and Agate-Mounted Gilt Silver Desk Clock . Cartier, Paris, circa 1910 . 2-5/8 x 2...

Description

An Imperial Cartier Guilloché Enameled and Agate-Mounted Gilt Silver Desk Clock
Cartier, Paris, circa 1910
2-5/8 x 2 x 1-5/8 inches (6.7 x 5.1 x 4.1 cm)
232 grams (gross)

PROVENANCE:
Grand Duchess Marie Georgievna;
Princess Nina Georgievna, Princess Chavchavadze;
Prince David Pavlovich Chavchavadze;
Christie's, New York, Russian Works of Art Important Silver and Objets de Vertu, Including Property from the Descendants of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, May 20, 2015, lot 62.

LITERATURE:
Barracca, Jader, Negretti, Giampiero and Nencini, Franco, Les Temps de Cartier, Milan, 1989, pp. 40-41 (for clocks of similar design circa 1910-1915).


Grand Duchess Marie Georgievna of Russia was born Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark in 1876. A daughter of King George of the Hellenes and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, she was a sister of King Constantine I of Greece, and a first cousin of both Nicholas II and George V.

Educated in Athens, she was a passionate Greek patriot, but her mother hoped for an advantageous match back into the Russian Imperial family through marriage to her first cousin once removed, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich. The Grand Duke pressed his case for marriage and the princess consented in 1900. The couple were married on Corfu and settled into their positions in St. Petersburg. The couple had two daughters, Princess Nina (1902-1974) who became Princess Chavchavadze, and Princess Ksenia (1903-1965) who became Mrs. William Bateman Leeds.

The Grand Duchess was a Cartier client throughout the first quarter of the 20th century, and the clock was likely with her when she and her daughters left Russia in the spring of 1914 to visit Great Britain and the springs at Harrowgate for her daughters' health. When World War I broke out, the family remained in England. By the time the Revolution occurred, it was too dangerous for them to return, and the Grand Duchess' worst fears were confirmed when her husband was arrested by the Bolsheviks and executed with other men of the Imperial family in 1918. The clock descended in the family of the Grand Duchess' eldest daughter. An identical Belle Époque Cartier clock but without imperial provenance, also circa 1910, and in rose pompadour pink enamel sold at Cottone Auctions, Genessee, New York, September 29, 2018, lot 140.

Property of a Gentleman

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