Lot Essay
The signature on the dial belongs to the celebrated dynasty of Le Roy clockmakers who were active in Paris throughout the 18th century and early part of the 19th century. A trade card illustrated in Tardy reads LE ROY/Horloger Palais Royal/ Paria (Dictionnaire des Horlogers Franais, Paris, 1971, p. 409.).
The case in the form of a kneeling Egyptian woman relates to a number of similar figural cases produced during the Consulate and Empire periods. The influential designers Percier and Fontaine and the bronzier Claude Galle are most closely associated with this model, as exemplified by a three piece clock garniture by Galle that incorporates seated and kneeling Egyptian figures (see H. Ottomeyer P. Prschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 338, no. 5.3.6). A clock virtually identical to the Victoria example is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, L'Encyclopdie de la Pendule Franaise, Paris, 1997, p. 382, fig. B. Another case in the form of a standing Egyptian woman between pedestals covered in hieroglyphs, attributed to Andr Ravrio, is illustrated in J.D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 358, no. 265.
The case in the form of a kneeling Egyptian woman relates to a number of similar figural cases produced during the Consulate and Empire periods. The influential designers Percier and Fontaine and the bronzier Claude Galle are most closely associated with this model, as exemplified by a three piece clock garniture by Galle that incorporates seated and kneeling Egyptian figures (see H. Ottomeyer P. Prschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 338, no. 5.3.6). A clock virtually identical to the Victoria example is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, L'Encyclopdie de la Pendule Franaise, Paris, 1997, p. 382, fig. B. Another case in the form of a standing Egyptian woman between pedestals covered in hieroglyphs, attributed to Andr Ravrio, is illustrated in J.D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 358, no. 265.