Last words on the scaffold, so to speak!
If people look closely at my comments, they will see that I have said "I am inclined to....." and then given my reasons. I have not said "it is......" I have given plausible reasons for my thoughts, and not run amok like some demented firebrand waving the holy book in the air! I have never, as far as I can remember, condemned outright the ideas of another, I have always expressed an opinion, or given a quote.
We are discussing an important point here, and I think that the readers deserve to see the thinking that goes into the settling of the provenance of a style etc. They can then look very closely and compare with other sources. Tom was shot down without a parachute, which was very insensitive, as in fact, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
Anyway, I am surprized at the emotions expressed and a bit dismayed that it has happened, even more so for being blamed for causing it. Michael, I think you need to reconsider, not only to please Harold, but for the readers, who need to see the dissection of the subjects by people who like to look between the lines.
As regards the actual thread’s clock: since the movement in the clock is too late for the actual Louis XIV era, it places the clock outside that period, and into the realms of "repro" (Louis XVIII etc) or a later interpretation of the original Louis XIV style. Only a close examination of the case by a specialist in cabinetry and Bulh work, could say if the movement is a later addition; which is the centre of the discussion on Peterc6's clock.
Generally speaking, styles don’t just appear on a set day or in a tight time-frame. I say generally, because in the instance of the French First Empire and the British Regency, those two styles did suddenly “pop up”, and quickly died when the political climate changed. (With the odd eccentricity of the Biedermeier hanging on in Austria and Germany). Styles evolve and peak, and then degenerate. If one wants to be pedantic and go by the book, then because the Sun King was still reigning, then the style is physically Louis XIV, but spiritually, well not for me! An actual clock made on a certain date, belongs to the date of making, but the style of the clock does not always have to be of the same vintage.
As to the reliability of the published word, be it in books or catalogues:
Remember what was said about relying on "curators", when we were discussing the Danish pieces, and on some other threads, what was said about the top auctioneer of Zurich, and of the Director of the Furtwangen.