Lot 33
An early 19th century French ormolu-mounted white marble mantel timepiece The base with an applied pair of ormolu love-struck hearts engraved with the initials VS and AD
11 July 2018, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £18,750 inc. premium
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An early 19th century French ormolu-mounted white marble mantel timepiece
The base with an applied pair of ormolu love-struck hearts engraved with the initials VS and AD
The case surmounted by Venus on a chariot drawn by a pair of lively-looking swans driven by a cherub, the wheel of the chariot forming the Arabic time dial, with moon hands, the winding square hidden by a hinged cast anthemions spoke, to the left Adonis as a young shepherd with crook and a dog attracts her attention, all set on a shaped marble plinth with applied mounts depicting cupids at Vulcan's forge making and sharpening their arrows of love, centred by the twin-heart motif, the movement with circular plates united by four turned pillars, with chain fusee to a solid deadbeat escape wheel mounted to the outside of the backplate. 44cms (17ins) high.
The case surmounted by Venus on a chariot drawn by a pair of lively-looking swans driven by a cherub, the wheel of the chariot forming the Arabic time dial, with moon hands, the winding square hidden by a hinged cast anthemions spoke, to the left Adonis as a young shepherd with crook and a dog attracts her attention, all set on a shaped marble plinth with applied mounts depicting cupids at Vulcan's forge making and sharpening their arrows of love, centred by the twin-heart motif, the movement with circular plates united by four turned pillars, with chain fusee to a solid deadbeat escape wheel mounted to the outside of the backplate. 44cms (17ins) high.
Footnotes
'Chariot clocks' were very popular during the Napoleonic period, and were considered feminine clocks. Similar examples of the present lot are in the Silver Boudoir at the Elysée Palace, chosen by Napoleon's younger sister,Caroline Murat, and in Emperess Josephine's bedchamber at Malmaison.
A similar model is illustrated by Tardy, La Pendule Française, p 195.
