A French gilt-bronze and jasperware cartel clock with its companion barometer

IN THE LOUIS XVI STYLE, BY ALFRED BEURDELEY FILS, PARIS, CIRCA 1885

Details

A French gilt-bronze and jasperware cartel clock with its companion barometer
In the Louis XVI Style, By Alfred Beurdeley Fils, Paris, Circa 1885
Each surmounted by a tied ribbon, above a Jasperware plaque within a rose frame, flanked to each side by a cherub mask, above a thermometer, the blue and white enamel scale inscribed CENTIGRADE, with numerals and annual records, surmounting a further Jaspeware plaque flanked to each side by a griffin, the clock's enamel dial signed A. Beurdeley Fils Paris, the twin-train movement striking on a bell, flanked by ribbon-tied fruit- and flower-filled cornucopiae, above a gadrooned lower terminal with pine cone finial; the barometer en suite, with a Reaumur scale; both inscribed to the back BY
Each: 45¾ in. (116 cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

Born in 1847, Alfred Beurdeley (d. 1919) took over his father's business in 1875. The shop was located at the Pavillon de Hanovre, while Beurdeley's workshops were at 20 & 24 rue Dautancourt, Paris. The firm specialised in producing luxurious articles to the highest quality and was pre-eminent among the Parisian ébénistes and bronziers, especially for the refinement of its ormolu. The mercurial gilding and hand chasing are of a standard that makes them difficult to distinguish from late eighteenth century work.

Beurdeley exhibited at the International Exhibitions, such as Paris in 1878 and Amsterdam in 1883, and was awarded the Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889.

A cartel clock and matching barometer, although with differing plaques and more elaborate dials, formerly at the Château de Saint Cloud, are now in the Louvre (cat. Nos 392 and 393).

Another pair is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (cat. No 151).

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