Lot 579

Galle, rue Vivienne à Paris, Height 520 mm, circa 1815
A skeletonized French Directoire mantle clock with half hour / hour self strike, pin wheel escapement and enamel decoration
Case: brass, gilt, marble and enamel. Dial: enamel. Movm.: circular brass full plate movement, 2 barrels for going and striking train, 1 locking plate for the hour strike with 1 hammer/1 bell, knife-edge suspended pendulum, large chased sunburst bob with war trophies.
Grey rectangular marble base on four bun feet, decorated with gilded bronze applications showing putti diverting themselves after a battle. The base supports two parallel arches - the front one with opaque cobalt blue enamel and three polychrome enamel plaques: at the top, Thetis with Zeus in the shape of an eagle; below on the left, the personification of gaiety, and below on the right, a personification of mourning. The arches are surmounted by a white enamel dial with a gilded bronze bezel with chased oak leaf pattern.
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.