MANTLE CLOCK, MERCURY OR HERMES. BRONZE. PARIS, FRANCE, 19TH CENTURY.
Antiques - Miscellaneus / Clocks
Reference: ZF0949
Table clock, Mercury/Hermes. Bronze, metal. Paris, France, circa 1825. In working order. Movement with engraving (signature). Table clock with a bronze case, combining a gilt finish (base, caduceus, rooster) and a dark-toned gunmetal finish. The pedestal has four legs (with claw-like ends and decorated with classical elements) supporting a smooth rectangular area, which leads to a smaller area with a garland of architectural palmettes in slight relief. This second area features relief decoration resembling a panoply (lyre with tortoiseshell, ribbons, ivy, staff, etc.). Above this is a gunmetal bronze male figure, seated sideways on a tree trunk on which the dial (metal, Roman numerals for the hours) is mounted, framed by a snake. A gilt rooster appears beside it. This semi-nude youth is Hermes or Mercury, a deity of classical mythology associated with commerce, communication, and so on, and often depicted carrying a caduceus (in his hand, made of gilded bronze) and wearing wings on a helmet or hat of a particular shape (note their presence on one foot as well). The rooster was one of the animals that frequently accompanied Mercury. Several cases very similar to that of the present clock are known: two by Louis-Sanislas Lenoir-Ravrio (one with a blued figure and marble base in the Musée de l'Horlogerie in Geneva; another with a gilt bronze figure in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England); one dated around 1825 and attributed to the same master (blued figure but the tree trunk of the dial and other details in gilt bronze; pedestal in a similar composition to the present one) in a private collection; another unattributed case in the "bureau du directeur" (General Inventory of the Cultural Heritage of the City of Lyon, France), dated with some uncertainty to the third quarter of the 19th century, which is very similar to this one. The Paris movement of the clock has two joined initials engraved on one side and a name in capital letters above the text "à Paris" on the other, referring to the clockmaker responsible for it. Similar model sold at Sotheby's auction 06.07.2011 lot 96. Weight: 21 kg.
· Size: 43x16x62 cms.
6.375 €
Special Offer, disc. -15%, before 7.500 €!
