A DIRECTOIRE ORMOLU AND VERDE ANTICO MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
A DIRECTOIRE ORMOLU AND VERDE ANTICO MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK

THE DIAL SIGNED 'ENGAZ A PARIS', POSSIBLY BY PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE OR CLAUDE GALLE, CIRCA 1795, THE MARBLE PLINTH ASSOCIATED AND REMOUNTED

Details
A DIRECTOIRE ORMOLU AND VERDE ANTICO MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
THE DIAL SIGNED 'ENGAZ A PARIS', POSSIBLY BY PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE OR CLAUDE GALLE, CIRCA 1795, THE MARBLE PLINTH ASSOCIATED AND REMOUNTED
The white enamel Roman dial with outer concentric date ring, ormolu hour and minute hands and blued steel date hand, the movement with twin spring barrels, silk suspended pendulum and countwheel strike on a bell, the case with pine-cone finial above a pierced lid of acanthus and scrolling anthemion, supported by two classical draped female figures on platforms terminating in scrolled handles, joined to a central mask of Mercury by draped floral swags, on a laurel-cast base, on a further green, white and red stepped marble base and toupie feet, with scratched marks to the reverse of clock movement 'Simon' and '1767', regilt
23 in. (58.5 cm.) high, 7¾ in. (19.5 cm.) wide, 8 in. (20.5 cm.) deep
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 22 May 1997, lot 131.

Lot Essay

Engaz had his workshop in the rue Helvetius, Paris from 1800 - 1810 and then in the rue Sainte-Anne in 1820.

The model for this festive urn clock and vases has traditionally been attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751 - 1843) or Claude Galle (1759 - 1815), and various decorative elements of this garniture appear on items executed by both bronziers. An engraving of this model clock is in the Recueil de La Mésangère, Collection de Meubles et objects de goût of 1807. An identical clock with unsigned dial was supplied to the château de Fontainebleau by Lepaute on 23 August 1806 (J.-P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, cat. 47, p. 81), while two identical clocks with movements signed by Folin and Devillaine are in the Musée François-Duesberg, Mons, Belgium (P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 327, fig. C).

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