A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK

THE MOVEMENT BY CHARLES REY

Details
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK
The movement by Charles Rey
The circular white enamelled Roman dial signed 'REY APARIS', surmounted by a scroll inscribed 'je, vogue, augré de la fortune et, protégé, du, dieu néptune', flanked by a maiden and a sailor above a galleon on waves decorated with a compass, on a square rectangular base and on bell-shaped feet, lacking lenticle and pendulum
20½ in. (52 cm.) high; 15½ in. (38 cm.) wide; 8 in. (20 cm.) deep

Lot Essay

Charles Rey, maître horloger in 1770.

This unusual mantel clock, with a galleon on waves surmounted by a portrait of Louis XVI, metaphorically depicts France steered by its King. This motif recurs in several forms of the fine and decorative arts, particularly during the Louis XVI period, when his idealised personification as Roman general or in this case, as 'navigator' of the State, features on a number of related mantel clocks. An example with a movement by Merra is illutrated in P. Kjellberg, La Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 270, fig. A further example, with a movement by Ferdinand Berthoud is illustrated in E. Niehüser, French Bronze clocks, 1700-1830, Atglen, 1999, p. 72, fig. 105.

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