The Animal group -- called Chimeras by Hans Nadelhoffer and Harry Fane -- are the most overtly sculptural of the five principal Cartier mystery clock forms. Where the Model A is geometric and the Portique architectural, the Animal clocks are figural: carved animals, standing figures, and pagoda structures become the housing for the concealed movement.
Production and Design
Twelve variants were produced between 1922 and 1931 (thirteen if the famous semi-mysterious agate Carp clock is included). They are clearly influenced by the bronze and ormolu animalia clocks of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France. Fane's catalogue records the range: Chimeras in agate and crystal, a mandarin duck in Chinese jade, a carved jade elephant, a rock crystal turtle, a jade lion, and jade figures of Chinese goddesses among them. The diamond hands are fashioned as arrows or serpents.
The designer Charles Jacqueau's influence on the mystery clocks is most apparent in the Chimeras, according to Fane, who traces Jacqueau's inspiration to Egypt, Persia, India, and China, with the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev as the most significant source.
Only one clock in this series is unaccounted for: the rock crystal Chimera clock.
Collecting
The figural mystery clocks regularly set records in major auction rooms. The last Chimera to appear at auction, as of Fane's 2000 catalogue, was the elephant clock, which fetched $750,000 in 1994. Their combination of sculptural ambition and technical concealment makes them among the most visually dramatic objects in the decorative arts market.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019), ch. 5 ("Stones Paris: Early 1920s")
- Hans Nadelhoffer, Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary (Thames and Hudson, 1984; revised 2007), pp. 281, 282 et al.
- Harry Fane, The Mystery of Time: The Mystery Clocks of Cartier (loan exhibition catalogue, International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, New York, 2000)
