According the the Sevres Manufacture records, only 7 porcelain lyres of this type were produced. Two were bought by Gabriel Courieult in 1785 and sold to King Louis XVI. Two were purchased by his widow in 1786 and three others in 1787 and 1788. There is a fine example from the Queen Mother's Collection in Windsor Castle, others are to be found in the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Walter Art Gallery of Baltimore and in the Musee National de Ceramique de Sevres. A later and somewhat simpler version, made by Kinable in 1818 was bought King George IV. Previously in the Vincent Mulne Collection, in South Africa, the clock now offered for sale appears to be the unique example available on the market. The calendar dial painted by Coteau is certainly the best of this type ever produced by this eminent artist who brought the art of jewel enamelling as near to perfection as was possible to achieve. The centr e of the magnificent Coteaux dial was certainly cut out to remove the original signature. The mark "B 592" punched on the reverse of the later silver engine-turned dial is similar to those found on most silver or gold Breguet engine-turned dials. According to Jean Dominique Augarde who have made extensive researches in the archives of the Sevres Manufacture, the first two lyres, designed as clock cases, are mentioned under the date of January 4, 1786 in the sale registers of the Manufactur e (Sevres, M.N.C. Arch. Vy 10 1" 13 r°). Their colour was beau bleu. They follow in the register several pieces bought by Louis XVI at the yearly Sevres auctions in Versailles in December 1785 (purchases ended by two vases decorated with has-reliefs and ormolu ornaments). The name of their buyer is not mentioned but he certainly was a man-hand -mercies However it is worthwhile to precise that as opposed to what it was generally claimed. As far we are concerned, the following entry in the registers was on January 30, 1786 (Sevres, M.N.C. Arch. Vy 10), with the information that its buyer was Votive (widow) Couricult. She was the wife of Gabriel Courieult who died on January 16, 1786 (Augarde, 1995) whose in the inventory made of his assets after his death, made on February 13, 1786 (Paris, A.N., Min. Cen. CXIII, 564), it is recorded: une bailie de lyre en porcelacne bleue aver can radian et sec bronzes sans titre (lords, prisee 240 Livres, which can only be that, of beau bleu colour, related to the remittance. The widow Courieult paid for another one on February 21, 1786, a third one on February 4 1787, four other on October 5, 1787 and a last one on January 19, 1788 ((Sevres, M.N.C. Arch. Vy 10). Three other were sold before the end of the monarchy, one to Mr. Rittener, May 1788, another, paid cash on October 29, 1789 (Sevres, M.N.C. Arch. Vy 10) and the last one on October 5, 1791, to Mr. Grandchamps (Sevres, M.N.C. Arch. Vy 11). These 11 lyres, sold during the Monarchy, intended to be mounted as clocks, were all in beau bleu colour and no other colour were supplied by the manufacture for these type of items, during the same period. Along the following period, the first entries in the book for lyres, were from Pluvi&se, year 3 (January 14, 1795) to Germinal 5, year 5 (March 25, 1796), 12 lyres, blue, pink, celestial blue, and green, were bought by the clockmaker Kinnable. Later on Pluviose 4, year 6 (January 23, 1798), a lyre was purchased by citizen Cardineaux and then, it was not until 1806 that the next entries appeared in the registers for this type of productions, with seven blue lyres, sold to Kinable. Then, all together, there were a total of 31 lyre, made of porcelain, made in the different colours, sold by Sevres in 21 years, between 1785 and 1806. Out of this number, 8 were purchased by Courieult and 19 by Kinable whose production was entirely commercialised during the Dire( 'mire and the Empire periods. One of the beaau bleu clock by the widow of Courieult, was bought by Louis XVI. Purchased on his personal account, it was described to be already in the Salon des Jeux du Rol, in Versailles, as early as 1787, and recorded to be still there on January 5, 1792. It was sold during the revolutionary auctions in Nivose, year 2 and his buyer gave it once more for sale in November 1794. It could be the clock now in the Louvre (legacy from Baronne Salomon de Rothschild), the dial of which was by Coteau and dated 1787. Several clock by Kinable are known to exist, including those in the Victoria and Albert Museum (June Collection, mv. No. 1004- 1882), in the British Royal Collections (Jagger, 193, fig. 176) and in the Walters Art Gallery of Baltimore (Inv. No.58'232). The fashion for porcelain lyre clocks, as shown above, continued well after the Revolution, and it is possible that another contemporary Parisian manufacture produced few of them, very similar but identifiable, of which, that in pink porcelain fitted with a movement by Jacques Breant, in the Ephrussi de Rothschild foundation in SaintJean-Cap-Ferrat, is a magnificent example. We gratefuly acknowledge the assistance provided by Mr. Jean Dominique Augarde, in the preparation of this catalogue entry. Mr. Augarde is the author or co-author of several important publications on gilt bronzes and works of art, including Vergoldeten Bronzen, Munich 1986, Les Oliveira du Temps, Antiquorum Editions, 1995 and Anti.de /anvier; Mecanicien- Astronome, Horloger orrlinaire du Rai, Paris 1998.