Clocks · Mantel clock
Mantel clock, France, 1785–1800
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1785–1800
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- France
- Object type
- Mantel clock
- Materials / technique
- bronze
- Dimensions
- height 46 cm; width 60 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OAR 379
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre
- Catalogue title (original)
- Pendule (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OAR 379), this is a mantel clock, made in France, dated 1785–1800. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: bronze. Recorded dimensions: height 46 cm; width 60 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)
pendule en marbre blanc et bronze doré : les Arts et les Sciences ; deux personnages, un homme et une femme, de bronze doré, symbolisant les Arts, sont adossés au cadran circulaire que surmontent une sphère et des instruments de géométrie ; socle de marbre blanc et bronze doré.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Dating and period as catalogued (French)
Epoque / période : Louis XVI (1774-1792) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1785 - 1800
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)
Matériau : bronze · Matériau : marbre blanc · Technique : doré = dorure (techniques métal)
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Provenance
cette pendule OAR 379 a été enregistrée sur les listes de l'OBIP : « n° d'ordre : 9 ; n° allemand : néant ; Provenance : 5° Baden ; Epoque : Louis XVI ; Sujet : Les Arts et les Sciences ; Matière : bronze doré et marbre blanc ». Dans la liste du cinquième convoi en provenance de Baden-Baden et à destination de Paris, on trouve effectivement une pendule : « Caisse ou Ballot : Caisse N° 6 ; Numéro d'inventaire : 693 ; Nature de l'objet : pendule ; Désignation de l'objet : Pendule bronze doré sur marbre avec deux personnages, empire ; Estimation en francs 1938 : 9000 ; Provenance : Tutlingen ». La désignation de la pendule comme d'époque Empire est une erreur. Elle date de la fin de l'époque Louis XVI. La note numéro 3 figurant en annexe du cinquième convoi en provenance de Baden-Baden concerne les meubles provenant de Tuttlingen ; elle précise la provenance de ces objets : « Un lot de meubles provenant de Tüttlingen et qui appartenait avant la guerre (factures à l'appui) à Madame Haberstock, antiquaire à Berlin, demeurant à Aschbach en zone américaine, comprenait cependant des objets, qui, selon les déclarations même de Mme Haberstock, avaient été achetés en France pendant l'Occupation. Ces trois objets sont dirigés sur Paris. Numéros d'inventaire : 693- Pendule Empire [...] vendu ». L'avis d'entrée en France du cinquième convoi en provenance de Baden-Baden identifie la pendule numéro 693 avec l'OAR 379 grâce à la précision des deux personnages qui en constituent le motif princ
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Mantel and French pendule clocks
The mantel clock — the French pendule de cheminée — is as much decorative art as timekeeper. From the late seventeenth century Parisian clockmakers worked with cabinet-makers, bronze founders and gilders (ciseleurs-doreurs) to create cases in Boulle marquetry, gilt bronze and marble, while the movements were often supplied by specialist makers. Clocks of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, and Empire clocks with allegorical figures, set fashions copied across Europe.
The nineteenth century industrialised the type. The 'Paris movement', a standardised round movement with silk-thread or Brocot suspension and count-wheel striking, was made in huge numbers by firms such as Japy and Vincenti, and fitted into cases of every style and material.
What to look for
- Round 'Paris' movements with makers' stamps (e.g. Japy Frères, Vincenti, S. Marti) and medal marks from exhibitions.
- Suspension type: silk thread (earlier) or Brocot adjustable suspension (after c. 1840).
- Visible Brocot escapement on the dial in later clocks.
- Fire-gilt (mercury) gilding on bronzes versus later electro-gilding.
- Signed dials naming a retailer rather than the movement maker.
Dating clues
- Silk-suspension Paris movements: c. 1800–1850.
- Brocot suspension and visible escapements: after c. 1840.
- Exhibition medal stamps on movements give dates after the medal year.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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