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Galle  -  Mollard

A Rare Mantel Clock in Finely Chased Patinated and Gilt Bronze with Matte and Burnished Finishing

Oriental Woman Sitting Cross-Legged

Pendule_502-06_HD_WEB

Dial Signed “Mollard à Paris” for Clockmaker Mollard

Active in Paris circa 1800-1810

Case Attributed to Bronze-Caster Claude Galle

Paris, Empire period, circa 1805

Height50 cm Width18 cm Depth13 cm

The circular white enamel dial, signed “Mollard à Paris”, indicates the Arabic numeral hours, fifteen-minute intervals and date by means of three hands, two of which are made of engraved, pierced, and gilt bronze. The hour and half hour striking movement, with silk suspension, is housed in a finely chased patinated and gilt bronze case with matte and burnished finishing. Surmounting the clock are clouds centered by a flaming winged torch. The drum case is supported by a magnificent female figure depicting an Oriental woman who is sitting cross-legged and is dressed in a Greek tunic. She is wearing a turban and holding a fringed drapery above her head. She is sitting on a cushion engraved with leaf friezes and stems, with tassels at its corners. The façade of the quadrangular base is decorated with applied motifs featuring a lozenge centered by a mask and flanked by palm leaves and stylized stems. The base is itself set on a rectangular plinth that is decorated with a molding of acanthus leaves and friezes of alternating lambrequins and stems.

The present clock features an elaborate design, particularly as concerns the remarkable female figure who is sitting cross-legged in the “oriental” manner. Her position seems to have been inspired by ancient Egyptian sculptures of seated figures. The Count de Caylus found the model striking, and included it in his famous 18th century album, Recueil d’Antiquités égyptiennes.

This rare model stands out for the exceptional quality of its gilding and chasing, which may be attributed to Claude Galle, one of the most important Parisian bronze casters of the Empire period. Around 1805 Galle created a clock depicting a young standing Egyptian woman who supported, in her raised arms, a drapery that surrounded the clock movement; one example is now in the National Furniture Depository (Mobilier national) in Paris (illustrated in M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, Pendules du Mobilier national 1800-1870, Editions Faton, Dijon, 2006, p. 114, n° 49). Around the same time, Galle produced candelabra featuring the same figures, one example of which is illustrated in I. Sychev, The Russian Chandeliers 1760-1830, P.V.B.R., 2003, p. 193, fig. 979. One such pair of candlesticks is pictured in G. and R. Wannenes, Les bronzes ornementaux et les objets montés, De Louis XIV à Napoléon III, Milan, 2004, p. 375. Among the small number of identical clocks known, one example is in the Marmottan Museum in Paris (Inv. 745  bequeathed by Paul Marmottan in 1932). A second is in the Louvre Museum (see E. Dumonthier, Les bronzes du Mobilier national, Pendules et cartels, Editions Massin, Paris, 1911, plate 54, fig. 3).

Claude Galle (1759 - 1815)

One of the foremost bronziers and fondeur-ciseleurs of the late Louis XVI and Empire periods, Claude Galle was born at Villepreux near Versailles. He served his apprenticeship in Paris under the fondeur Pierre Foy, and in 1784 married Foy’s daughter. In 1786 he became a maitre-fondeur. After the death of  his father-in-law in 1788, Galle took over his workshop, soon turning it into one the finest, and employing approximately 400 craftsmen. Galle moved to Quai de la Monnaie (later Quai de l’Unité), and then in 1805 to 60 Rue Vivienne.

The Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, under the direction of sculptor Jean Hauré from 1786-88, entrusted him with many commissions. Galle collaborated with many excellent artisans, including Pierre-Philippe Thomire, and furnished the majority of the furnishing bronzes for the Château de Fontainebleau during the Empire. He received many other Imperial commissions, among them light fittings, figural clock cases, and vases for the palaces of Saint-Cloud, the Trianons, the Tuileries, Compiègne, and Rambouillet. He supplied several Italian palaces, such as Monte Cavallo, Rome and Stupinigi near Turin.

In spite of his success, and due in part to his generous and lavish lifestyle, as well as to the failure of certain of his clients (such as the Prince Joseph Bonaparte) to pay what they owed, Galle often found himself in financial difficulty. Galle’s business was continued by his son after his death by his son, Gérard-Jean Galle (1788-1846). Today his work may be found in the world’s most important museums and collections, those mentioned above, as well as the Musée National du Château de Malmaison, the Musée Marmottan in Paris, the Museo de Reloges at Jerez de la Frontera, the Residenz in Munich, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

 

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Mollard à Paris

The signature « Mollard à Paris » is that of French clockmaker Mollard, who was active in Paris during the Empire period, around 1800 – 1810 He collaborated with the great bronze caster Claude Galle