96th Auction
2017/11/18
Lot 580
Attributed to Claude Galle, Rue Vivienne à Paris, Height 340 mm, circa 1810
An extraordinary Empire figural mantel clock with half hour / hour self strike "Venus sitting in a clamshell being drawn over the water by two doves"
Case: ormolu, patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 2 barrels, 2 hammers / 1 bell, locking plate, lever escapement, silk suspended short pendulum.
The clock sits in a fountain basin on four dolphin feet. Venus rests in a seashell on the surface of the water and the shell is pulled by doves. Each side of the basin has a water-spouting mascaron.
The details are symbols from the myth of Venus: the carriage has the form of a seashell, which is one of Venus' attributes.
Most probably this clock was crafted in the workshop of famous bronzier Claude Galle; the quality of the bronze is extraordinary.
Claude Galle (1758-1815) was a renowned bronzier during the reign of Louis XVI and was first established at Rue du Four before moving to Rue Vivienne. During the early 19th century, he supplied works to many French and Italian palaces, including Tuileries, Fontainebleau and the Grand and Petit Trianons at Versailles.
Source: "Designs for Gilt Bronze Objects from the French Restoration 1814-1830" by C. Plante and R. Garnier, London, 2002, pp. 25-26.
Further, nearly identical mantel clocks are illustrated and described in "Vergoldete Bronzen" by Ottomeyer/Pröschel, Munich 1986, p. 371, fig. 5.13.17. Furthermore in "Faszination Uhren" by Mühe/Vogel, Hamburg 1976, p. 107, fig. 135 and in Tardy, "French Clocks", Part two, Paris 1981, p. 285.
An extraordinary Empire figural mantel clock with half hour / hour self strike "Venus sitting in a clamshell being drawn over the water by two doves"
Case: ormolu, patinated bronze. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 2 barrels, 2 hammers / 1 bell, locking plate, lever escapement, silk suspended short pendulum.
The clock sits in a fountain basin on four dolphin feet. Venus rests in a seashell on the surface of the water and the shell is pulled by doves. Each side of the basin has a water-spouting mascaron.
The details are symbols from the myth of Venus: the carriage has the form of a seashell, which is one of Venus' attributes.
Most probably this clock was crafted in the workshop of famous bronzier Claude Galle; the quality of the bronze is extraordinary.
Claude Galle (1758-1815) was a renowned bronzier during the reign of Louis XVI and was first established at Rue du Four before moving to Rue Vivienne. During the early 19th century, he supplied works to many French and Italian palaces, including Tuileries, Fontainebleau and the Grand and Petit Trianons at Versailles.
Source: "Designs for Gilt Bronze Objects from the French Restoration 1814-1830" by C. Plante and R. Garnier, London, 2002, pp. 25-26.
Further, nearly identical mantel clocks are illustrated and described in "Vergoldete Bronzen" by Ottomeyer/Pröschel, Munich 1986, p. 371, fig. 5.13.17. Furthermore in "Faszination Uhren" by Mühe/Vogel, Hamburg 1976, p. 107, fig. 135 and in Tardy, "French Clocks", Part two, Paris 1981, p. 285.
Sold
estimated
2.500—5.000 €
Price realized
5.500 €