Dreweatts Donnington Priory Salerooms
Lot 114
A fine French silver Butterfield pattern sundial. Chapotot, Paris, circa 1700. The elongated octagonal plate with three hour scales for 40, 45 and 50 degrees, the outer IIII-XII-VIII divided into quarter-hours, the inner two 5-12-7 divided into half hours, the centre with engraved vignette of a townscape within curved band signed CHAPOTOT A PARIS with scallop shell and trumpet horn motif above, with glazed four-point compass and hinged bird engraved adjustable gnomen calibrated in degrees for elevation to the outer edge, the underside engraved with latitudes for twenty cities including Londres, Cracouie, Copenhague, Strasbourg, Rome, Madrid, Stokholme, Amsterdam and Hambourg the compass base further decorated with a leafy rosette, 5.8cm (2.25ins) wide; in original leather case with red velvet lined interior applied with a an old label for TESSIERS LTD, LONDON the cover with pique work crown motif within line border, 6.5cm (2.5ins) wide overall. Louis Chapotot worked ‘Sur Le Quay de l’Horloge, Ile de La Cite, A La Sphere, Paris’ circa 1670-1700. He was appointed Master of the ‘Corporation des Fondeurs’ and is thought to have latterly taken his son into partnership who may have subsequently continued the business for a short period during the early years of the 18th century. This type of portable pocket sundial was devised by Michael Butterfield, an English Instrument maker who settled in Paris around 1685. By the end of the century Butterfield’s workshop was also located on the ‘Le Quay de l’Horloge’ hence he would have known Louis Chapotot as a neighbour. The pique work crown to the lid of the case of the current lot appears original and depicts a crown with alternating diamond and lozenge collar beneath rosettes to the coronet. Although very closely related to the Royal Crown, the substitution of rosettes in place of fleur-de-lys to the coronet suggests that the crown belonged to one of the ‘Great Officers of the Crown’, a group of trusted nobles who held the most important administrative offices within the Court. With this in mind it would be reasonable to suggest that the current lot was purchased directly from Chapotot (who was based just around the corner from The Louvre) by an important member of the Royal Court.
