An Exquisite French Ormolu Mantel Clock by Victor Paillard
$38,500.00
A superb 19th century French gilt bronze figural mantel clock by Victor Paillard (1805-1886).
The urn-shaped Case with pomegranate finial, flanked by classical allegorical figures, one holding a globe and the other a scroll representing Geography and Astronomy.
Signed: VICTOR PAILLARD FT. DE BRONZES A PARIS on a white enamel dial.
The case stamped V.P. beneath a crown
Circa 1850
Height: 27″ (68 cm)
Width: 24″ (61 cm)
Depth: 11″ (28 cm)
The original design for the present model is by Etienne Martincourt (d. 1791), reçu maître en 1762. The elegant female seated figures flanking the clock case represent Sidereal and Terrestial Time, commonly called Astronomy and Geography. In a French revolutionary inventory of Louis XVI possessions, a clock supplied for the King at the Salle du Conseil at the Tuileries is described: "N0.5: Une pendule en forme de vase ornée de deux figures représentant l'astronomie et la géographie, le tout en cuivre doré et or moulu, le mouvement à sonnerie - 2 pieds de haut et 1 pied 6 po. de large - par Charles le Roi, Chez M. Robin.
This clock is now in the permanent collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California
For an illustration of the 18th century model by Etienne Martincourt refer to P. Kjellberg, Encyclopedie de La Pendule Française du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, 1997, pp. 214-215.
