Clocks · Mantel clock
Mantel clock, France, 1800–1835
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1800–1835
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- Paris, France
- Object type
- Mantel clock
- Materials / technique
- ebony
- Dimensions
- height 39,5 cm; width 25 cm; depth 8,5 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 11921
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Pendule "à lunette" (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 11921), this is a mantel clock, made in Paris, France, dated 1800–1835. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebony. Recorded dimensions: height 39,5 cm; width 25 cm; depth 8,5 cm. The record is illustrated with 6 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)
La pendule repose sur un socle en biscuit de porcelaine blanche parallélépipédique aux angles antérieurs abattus. A l'avant, sur une plaquette d'ébène rectangulaire encastrée dans le socle, une frise ciselée en bronze doré d'inspiration bacchique montre des enfants enivrant un bouc. Les angles sont enrichis d'une chute de palmettes en bronze doré. Le socle est soutenu par quatre pieds tors en bronze doré ciselé. Le cadran de la pendule, non signé, s'inscrit dans un octogone en biscuit appliqué sur la base d'un petit monument. Les extrémités arrondies de celui-ci ont été modelées en pâte de porcelaine teintée en bleu dans la masse, à l'imitation des productions de Wedgwood. Elles sont ornées de guirlandes de roses en relief, en biscuit de porcelaine blanche. L'ensemble est surmonté d'une jeune femme nue, portant simplement un bandeau dans les cheveux, découvrant un panier contenant deux petits amours endormis. Elle est assise sur un coussin en biscuit de porcelaine bleue dont seuls le galon et les pompons sont en porcelaine blanche par contraste. Le mouvement n'est probablement pas d'origine. Le cadran a été restauré.
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)
Date de création/fabrication : 1800 - 1835
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 : biscuit · Matériau : bronze (doré) · Matériau : ébène · Technique : émaillé = émaillage = émail = émaux (techniques métal) · Matériau : biscuit de porcelaine dure · Technique : techniques céramique
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
Ancienne collection Florence Bloom and sons, Johannesburg ; don Norman C. Bloom en souvenir de sa mère, Florence Bloom, 1999
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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