A Rare Red Griotte Marble and Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock with Matte and Burnished Finishing
“The Aeneid”
Dial signed « Mesnil horloger » by the clockmaker
Case made by André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814)
Paris, Empire period, circa 1805
The round white enamel dial, signed “Ravrio Bronzier à Paris/Mesnil Hger”, indicates the Roman numeral hours and the Arabic numeral minutes by means of two blued steel Breguet hands. The neoclassical case features a figure from classical antiquity that is made of finely chased patinated and gilt bronze with matte and burnished finishing, and red griotte marble. The hour and half-hour striking movement is housed in a rectangular case adorned with winged quivers, ribbon-tied flower and leaf swags, and crossed trumpets. The lower portion of the case is decorated with a wide frieze of alternating stylized leaves and palmettes, and motifs of scrolling stems and flowers. On the pedestal there is the magnificent bust of a bearded man wearing a laurel wreath and classical robes. He represents Homer, whose name is engraved on the pedestal bearing two scrolls; on the terrace there is a scepter, symbol of the poet’s eternal glory, and two partially rolled parchments on which appear the words “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, Homer’s two poems concerning the Trojan War. Leaning against the case to the right of the viewer is a man wearing a toga who contemplates the poet’s bust. He is holding a stylus and an unrolled parchment on his left thigh; his foot rests on a small footstool that is decorated with scrolls against a matted ground, two scrolls at his feet bear the titles “Aeneid” and “Georgics”; they relate to the figure, who represents the celebrated Roman poet Virgil, The façade of the quadrangular red griotte marble base is adorned with a low relief scene depicting Virgil reading the Aeneid before Augustus and Livia; in the background, there is Octavia, the sister of Augustus. She faints upon hearing the verses in which the poet speaks of her son, Marcellus. The clock is raised upon four knurled and flattened feet.
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The theme of this remarkable mantle clock is an homage to classical poetry, here represented by Homer and Virgil, two of the most important poets of antiquity.
Among the rare identical clocks known today (though with certain variations) are three large models in which a female figure is on the left of the composition: the first is in the Château de Fontainebleau (inventory n° F4076); it is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Die Bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, 1986, Tome I, p. 352, fig. 5.8.2. The second appears in the inventory of the Mobilier National in Paris (inventory n° GML-10486-000) (see M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, Pendules du Mobilier National 1800-1870, Éditions Faton, Dijon, 2006, p. 64-65). The third and final example is in the Copenhagen Kunstindustrimuseet (illustrated in Tardy, La pendule française, 2ème Partie: du Louis XVI à nos jours, Paris, 1974, p. 370). A later clock, of the same dimensions as the present example though much less elaborate, and surprisingly paired with a second clock that features the female figure appearing on the large version, in which the bust of Homer is replaced by that of Socrates, is in the Tsarskoye Selo Museum near Saint Petersburg (inventory n° ЕД-364-IV; ЕД-365-IV) (illustrated in Tatiana V. Serpinskaya, Fine Art Bronze in the Collections of Tsarskoye Selo, Aurora Art Publishers, Saint Petersburg, 2009, p.152-153).
Mesnil
The mention “Mesnil” is evidently the signature of one of the members of the Dugrandmesnil or Dumesnil family, a dynasty of Parisian clockmakers that seems to have shortened its name during the Revolution to avoid any confusion with the aristocracy. The name Mesnil appears on many dials alongside that of Ravrio; the two regularly worked together during the Empire period. Many of these clocks were owned by important contemporary collectors; several were briefly described in the probate inventories of General Joseph-Félix Lazowski, Marquis Germain Garnier, Emmanuel-Marie-Louis, Marquis de Noailles, the French ambassador in Vienna, Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Wagram, and Napoleonic Marshal Michel Ney, Prince de la Moskowa.
André-Antoine Ravrio (1759 - 1814)
Made master bronzier in 1777, he is one of the most important Parisian bronze workers of the late 18th century and the early Empire period. Supplier of bronzes to the Imperial Garde-meuble, Ravrio helped furnish Napoleon’s residences, along with Thomire and Galle; he also worked for some of the most influential figures of the time, including Marshals of the Empire. Today certain of his works are in the collections of the Mobilier national in Paris.
Important and Rare Matte and Burnished and Patinated Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock based on the Novel “Paul et Virginie”
“The Triumph of Virtue and Innocence”
“Levol à Paris”
The Case Attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire
Paris, Consulate period, circa 1800
The round white enamel dial, signed “Levol à Paris”, indicates the Roman numeral hours and the Arabic fifteen-minute intervals by means of two pierced gilt bronze hands. It is housed in a magnificent neoclassical case featuring finely sculpted and chased figures made of patinated bronze and gilt bronze with matte and burnished finishing. The hour and half-hour striking movement is housed in a drum case whose bezel is adorned with bead friezes and alternating water leaf and reed friezes, surmounting a drapery with delicate rope fringe decorated with a latticework band. That case supports a magnificent sculptural group depicting two figures seated side by side: a young man and a young woman, the latter holding in her left hand a drapery that floats over their heads. This refers to an episode from the novel “Paul et Virginie” in which Virginie, having been caught in a sudden shower, uses a part of her dress to shield herself from the rain, raising it above her head and thereby also protecting Paul, who was with her. The figures’ attitudes and their way of looking at each other betray great affection. The group rests on a palanquin with stretchers in imitation bamboo, which are carried by two finely sculpted black men dressed in loincloths with a burnished and matte border. On the terrace stands a dog that raises its right front foot. The quadrangular base with slightly protruding corners is decorated with applied palm tree motifs; the façade is adorned with a reserve panel depicting a scene that takes place within a landscape, which relates to the adolescence of the two young people. The clock is raised upon four feet that are adorned with leaf friezes.
Black figures were rarely used in French and European decorative horology before the late 18th century. It was not until the end of the Ancien Régime – precisely, the final decade of the 18th century and the early years of the following one – that the first clocks called “au nègre” or “au sauvage” appeared. That fashion resulted from a specific social and romantic context. In the late 18th century, writings such as those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau exalted the moral virtues of a return to nature, through the idea of the “noble savage”. The interest in exoticism was encouraged by contemporary literature. The great success of “Paul et Virginie”, written by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre in 1788, an echo of the famous “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe, the novel “Les Incas” by Marmontel, which had been published during the American Revolution, and “Atala” written by Chateaubriand in 1801, profoundly changed Europeans’ attitudes to other civilizations, plunging the Old World into a current of romantic nostalgia linked to the idea of a quest for a Pagan paradise, which would be given new life by Christianity. As has often been the case in the French decorative arts, these new ideas manifested themselves in artistic creations, often in the fields of horology and lighting. The present clock was created within that particular context. Its particularly elaborate design and the exceptional quality of its chasing and gilding, and the patina of the two young black men, are evidence that the bronzier was one of the finest then working in Paris; it must therefore be attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire.
The composition was inspired by a less elaborate horological model depicting a sculptural group in which Paul and Virginie are carried on a stretcher held by two young black women. One such clock is in the Musée Duesberg in Mons (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue “De Noir et d’Or, Pendules ‘au bon sauvage’”, Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels, 1993). A second example is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age à nos jours, Paris, 1997, p. 344. One further such clock is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Die Bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Band I, Munich, 1986, p. 379, fig. 5.15.20; that clock has been attributed to the Parisian bronzier Louis-Isidore Choiselat, known as Choiselat-Gallien (1784-1853). One of the finest bronze casters in Paris, Choiselat was a rival of Pierre-Philippe Thomire.
Contemporary with the “aux porteuses” clocks, “aux porteurs noirs” clocks were much more elaborate and spectacular, due to their much larger size, as well as to their very unusual and perfectly balanced composition and the exceptional quality of their chasing and gilding. This model is also extremely rare; among the very small number of identical examples known, one that is attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire is today in the Musée François Duesberg in Mons (illustrated in Musée François Duesberg, Arts décoratifs 1775-1825, Brussels, 2004, p. 66). Tradition has it that the clock in the Musée Duesberg was ordered from Thomire in 1802 by the future Emperor Napoleon I, who intended to give it to Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. Napoleon, who admired the writer’s work, had particularly liked his novel “Paul et Virginie”.
Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1757 - 1843)
Pierre-Philippe Thomire was the most important Parisian bronzier of the last quarter of the 18th century and the first decades of the following century. Early on in his career he worked for Pierre Gouthière, ciseleur-fondeur du roi, and toward the mid-1770’s began working with Louis Prieur. He later became one of the bronziers attached to the Manufacture Royale de Sèvres, creating the bronze mounts for most of the important creations of the day. After the Revolution, he purchased the stock of Martin-Eloi Lignereux, thus becoming the most important suppliers of furniture bronzes for châteaux and Imperial Palaces. In addition, he worked for a wealthy private clientele, both French and foreign, including several of Napoleon’s Marshals. Thomire retired in 1823.
Important Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock
“The Music Lesson” or “Homage to Joséphine”
“Collas à Paris”
Attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire
Paris, early Empire period, circa 1805
The round enamel dial signed “Collas à Paris” indicates the Roman numeral hours and the fifteen-minute graduations. The case is made of finely chased, gilt and patinated bronze. The movement is housed in an elaborately decorated drum case upon which is seated a fine female figure who is dressed in antique robes and plays the harp. Her sheet music is placed on a four-legged gueridon; she looks behind her towards a winged putto who is wearing a quiver of arrows slung across his chest and holds a parchment with the words “Bouton de rose” (rosebud). His bow and a flaming torch are placed before him on a stool with lions’ feet. The plinth, with elaborately decorated reserves, is set upon a square green marble base adorned with applied motifs: ribbon-tied garlands, lyres flanked by griffons and masks within pierced medallions adorned with stylised palmettes. The clock is raised upon six toupie feet that are decorated with foliage and interlace motifs centered by pearls; the plinth has flattened ball feet.
This clock’s unusual design was inspired by a poem entitled “Bouton de rose”, by Constance-Marie de Théis, Princess de Salm-Dyck (1767-1845). Published in 1785 in the Almanach des Grâces the poem became famous during the latter part of the 18th century, when it was set to music by the composer Louis-Barthélémy Pradher (1782-1843). The popular singer Pierre-Jean Garat (1762-1823) sang it in fashionable Salons, dedicating it to the beauty of Josephine, the wife of the future Emperor Napoleon. The present clock’s exceptional chasing and gilding allow us to attribute it to the most talented Parisian bronze caster of the period, Pierre-Philippe Thomire.
Only a few identical clocks are known: one example, whose dial is signed “Dubuc le jeune”, is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen-Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 388; a second clock appears in Tardy, La pendule française, 2ème Partie: du Louis XVI à nos jours, Paris, 1975, p. 401; a further clock, also attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, is in the Musée François Duesberg, the famous horological museum in Mons (illustrated in Musée François Duesberg, Arts décoratifs 1775-1825, Bruxelles, 2004, p. 40).
Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1757 - 1843)
Pierre-Philippe Thomire was the most important Parisian bronzier of the last quarter of the 18th century and the first decades of the following century. Early on in his career he worked for Pierre Gouthière, ciseleur-fondeur du roi, and toward the mid-1770’s began working with Louis Prieur. He later became one of the bronziers attached to the Manufacture Royale de Sèvres, creating the bronze mounts for most of the important creations of the day. After the Revolution, he purchased the stock of Martin-Eloi Lignereux, thus becoming the most important suppliers of furniture bronzes for châteaux and Imperial Palaces. In addition, he worked for a wealthy private clientele, both French and foreign, including several of Napoleon’s Marshals. Thomire retired in 1823.
Rare Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock
Paris, Empire period, circa 1810
The round white enamel dial, signed “Gabriel Leroy/Rue du Temple N° 115 à Paris”, indicates the Roman numeral hours and Arabic fifteen-minute intervals by means of two blued steel Breguet hands. The case is made of finely chased gilt bronze with matte and burnished finishing. The bezel is adorned with a waterleaf frieze. The movement is housed in a case with engaged columns adorned with lions’ heads from which water issues, falling into receptacles placed on low pilasters with applied decorative motifs; the columns have palmette-decorated capitals. The façade is decorated with a swan with outstretched wings that rests on C scrolls, palmettes and rosettes. The rounded cornice is adorned with roof edge ornaments alternating with stylized palmettes and shells. The clock is surmounted by a gadrooned basin that supports two addorsed dolphins with intertwining tails. On the terrace are two children. The young girl is sitting in a sled with applied marine horses; she points the way with her right hand as she turns toward the other child, a young boy. Both children are dressed in the fashion of the 19th century. The rectangular base, with a sloping entablature, is supported by a molded plinth decorated with applied motifs of a trident, oars, ewers, shells, and reeds; it is itself supported on four knurled toupie feet.
This rare clock, with its magnificent chasing and gilding, is based on an unusual theme that is probably based on the novel Paul et Virginie by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. Published in 1788, it rapidly became very popular. The motif of two children playing together might correspond to the period when Paul and Virginie, who had grown up together as brother and sister on an isolated island far from civilization, led a life that was simple and virtuous and close to nature. The clockmaker who made the movement, Gabriel Leroy, was very probably a member of the horological dynasty of the same name that was active in Paris from the mid 18th century until the early decades of the following century. His workshop is mentioned at 115, rue du Temple from 1802 to 1822. During the Empire period he appears to have gone into partnership with his colleague Lemazurier (see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris, 1971, p. 405). A gilt copper clock by this clockmaker, “surmounted by a chariot drawn by butterflies”, was valued at 300 francs in 1817 in the probate inventory of Charles-Etienne Lacouture.
Gabriel Leroy
Gabriel Leroy was no doubt a member of the famous clockmaking dynasty active in Paris from the mid-18th century to the early décades of the following century; he is mentioned at 115, rue du Temple from 1802 to 1822 (see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris, 1971, p. 405).
Rare Gilt and Polychrome Bronze “Au Déserteur” Mantel Clock
Paris, Louis XVI period, circa 1775
The round enamel dial, signed “Amant à Paris”, indicates the Roman numeral hours and the Arabic numeral five-minute intervals and date by means of three hands, two of which are set with paste stones; the third is made of blued steel. The architectural case is made of very finely chased gilt and polychrome bronze. The upper portion of the case, featuring military motifs such as banners, plumed helmets, swords, axes, and shields, is supported by a building with an arched façade with fluted pilasters and dungeons in the background. On a terrace, engraved in imitation of paving stones, and surrounded by pillars linked by chains, a young man kneels while bidding goodbye to a despondent young woman. Behind them, four soldiers are waiting to execute the prisoner. The quadrangular breakfront Carrara marble base is adorned with entrelac friezes against a green ground. The clock is raised upon four chased bun feet.
The theme of this clock was inspired by the comic opera “Le déserteur” (The Deserter), by composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (1729-1817). The opera was first performed on March 6, 1769 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, by the Comédie-Italienne. Based on true events, the opera tells the story of a French soldier named Alexis who deserts his regiment, believing that his fiancée Louise is about to marry someone else. He is arrested and thrown into prison. When she learns what has happened, Louise throws herself at the king’s feet and succeeds in convincing him to pardon the young man. She is so exhausted, however, that upon her return she collapses with fatigue before she is able to announce the good news. Luckily, Louis XV arrives just in time to prevent Alexis’s execution. The opera was an immediate success. The present clock depicts its most dramatic moment: the farewell scene between Alexis and Louise, with the execution squad standing in the background.
Among the rare known examples of this clock, one was formerly in the collection of the Count of Rosebery in Mentmore Towers (sale Sotheby’s, May 19, 1977, lot 445); a second clock is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue “La folie d’Artois à Bagatelle”, 1988, p. 85, fig. 7. A further “Deserter” clock is in the Pavlovsk Palace (illustrated in A. Kuchumov, Pavlovsk, Palace & Park, Leningrad, 1975, illustration 97). A “Deserter” clock was described in the collection of the Marquis de Broglie in 1786: “A clock representing a prison and a scene with a deserter, surmounted by an enamel dial with paste-stone bezel, with military trophy, on a marble base…”.
Jean-Louis Amant
After becoming a master in 1751, as the son of a master, Jean-Louis Amant opened a workshop in the rue Gracieuse and was very successful. Like the best Parisian clockmakers, he called on the finest bronze casters and cabinetmakers of the day for his clock cases, including Jean Goyer, Nicolas Bonnet and the Osmonds.
