RARE PENDULE AU CHINOIS DE BERTIN, MINISTRE DE... Lot 16

RARE PENDULE AU CHINOIS DE BERTIN, MINISTRE DE LOUIS XV ET ADMINISTRATEUR DE LA COMPAGNIE DES INDES Clock of movement form out of lacquered wood with black bottom, with gold lacquered decoration in light relief of Chinese characters on the side faces, in lower part of the cartels of flowers in crosses, resting on four feet, the white and black enamelled dial with Roman numerals for the hours, seconds and days in Arabic numerals, signed "GUERIN A SENONCHE", gilded brass hands. The removable upper part revealing a polychrome wooden compass, with metal needle under glass, is topped by a Chinese character articulating thanks to a crank at the back that moves his fan and his head. On the back the initials of Christ "IHS". Small lifts of material and restorations. Movement in the state, with key and balance. Louis XV period. On the back a small door opening with a key contains two period papers glued, inscribed in pen: "From the Cabinet of Monsieur / Bertin Minister of the King / Spa 1791." and "From the Cabinet of Monsieur / Bertin Minister / Secretary of State / Commander of the Orders / of the King". H. 62 x W. 27 x D. 18 cm. History Henri Léonard Jean Baptiste Bertin, born on March 24, 1720 in Périgueux and died on September 16, 1792 in Spa (today's Belgium), was comptroller general of finances of King Louis XV (1759-1763). After resigning once peace was restored, he was given, on December 14, 1763, a strangely composed Secretariat of State, detached from the General Control of Finance, whose responsibilities included, among other things, the Compagnie des Indes. The creation of a fifth Secretariat of State - which was called the Secretariat of Mr. Bertin - is a unique event in the annals of the monarchy. Faced with the encroachments of the general control of finances, Bertin abandoned the Compagnie des Indes and the cotton and painted canvas factories in 1764. Deprived of financial means and competent personnel, Bertin's "small ministry" was a relative failure, except for the mines. His ministry was abolished after the resignation of its incumbent, on May 26, 1780. Fascinated by China, he allowed two young Chinese Catholics to spend several years studying in France and then to return to China with a pension from King Louis XVI. Bertin relied on the mission of the Jesuits to the Emperor of China (Fathers François Bourgeois and Joseph-Marie Amiot). Vergennes did not follow his recommendations, which is regrettable because China was the natural complement to trade with India, which the English understood very well in the decisive years between 1778 and 1785. Honorary member of the Academy of Sciences (1761) and of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres (1772), Bertin emigrated in 1791 to Spa, where he died shortly thereafter, on September 16, 1792, and was buried the same day: in the parish register of Saint-Remacle of Spa, the parish priest calls him Commandeur des Ordres du Roy and Ministre d'État de France. It is from this last year of his life that the label on the back of our clock dates, a moving testimony of the love for China that the minister of Louis XV felt.