A Gilt Bronze and Ebony Veneer Mantle Clock
“ The Altar of Venus ”
Dial signed “ Baffert à Paris ” by the clockmaker Martin Baffert
Paris, beginning of the Louis XVI period, circa 1775
A rare Louis XVI gilt bronze clock by Martin Baffert, the white enamel dial signed “Baffert à Paris”. The dial with outer Arabic numerals for the minutes and inner Roman numerals for the hours, with pierced gilt brass hands. The eight-day movement with anchor escapement and silk thread suspension, striking the hours and half hours on a single bell, with outside count wheel. The case depicts the altar of Venus, surmounted by foliage above a flame; standing on the left, Venus holds a seashell in her left hand; to the right, the winged Cupid is lying on a draped rock with a gadrooned urn at his feet; he is giving the goddess a dove. The shaped plinth is centred by a frieze depicting a pair of doves among foliage, flanked on either side by fluted pillars. The ormolu-mounted ebony-veneered base is raised on turned feet.
Discover our entire collection of antique mantel clocks for sale online or at the gallery.
La Pendulerie is the specialist in fine and rare antique clocks, based in Paris.
A clock similar to the present one, signed “Buzot à Paris”, is in the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
Martin Baffert, a master clockmaker active in Paris during the second part of the 18th century, is recorded as working in the Enclos des Quinze-Vingt in 1773.
