A RARE IRISH GEORGE II 'HUGUENOT' LONGCASE CLOCK, by Nicholas Lemaistre, Dublin (active c.1740), fitted with glazed architectural hood enclosing a brass dial with pierced cresting, inked with...

A RARE IRISH GEORGE II 'HUGUENOT' LONGCASE CLOCK, by Nicholas Lemaistre, Dublin (active c.1740), fitted with glazed architectural hood enclosing a brass dial with pierced cresting, inked with Roman and Arabic numerals, the mahogany case, with shaped trunk door, between fluted quadrants, on plinth base and bracket feet. 248cm high

The history of the Huguenots in Ireland, particularly in Dublin is well established, and it is now recognised that they played an important role in the professional society of the time.

Following the revoking of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV, which decreed that the remaining Huguenot protestant population in France must convert to Catholicism in order to remain in country free from persecution, large numbers fled to neighbouring Protestant countries of Holland, Germany and further afield to Great Britain. It is thought that around 10,000 arrived in Ireland via Britain, with majority settling in Dublin, Cork, Portarlington as well as in counties Antrim and Down.

From the early decades of the 18th century, Huguenots were actively living and working in Dublin with the population recorded as approximately 2,100 in 1701 and jumping up to 4,000 by the 1720s (Jessica Cunningham, 'Dublin Huguenot goldsmiths, 1690 - 1750: assimilation and divergence', IADS, Vol XII, 2009, Irish Georgian Society). With the arrival of these immigrants to Ireland, some who were merchants, artisans and craftsman, they needed to be able to participate and contribute to the economy of the city. Records from the Dublin Goldsmiths' Company show a number of them active within the guild as free brothers, quarter brothers, journeymen and apprentices. As an organisation it oversaw not only the production and trade of silver and gold objects but also jewellery, timepieces, watch and clock cases.

This longcase clock, signed by the maker Nicholas Lemaistre, is a clear example of the high level of craftsmanship in the early 18th century. G.H Baillie records in his seminal book Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World a Nicholas Lemaistre in Paris in 1675 and then subsequently residing in Dublin in 1743 working as an established watchmaker. Surviving examples such as this are rarely seen at auction and it provides us with a greater understanding of the role the Huguenot population played during a very important period of production of decorative arts in Ireland.

 

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