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Lot Essay
Napoleon's territorial conquests in the Nile delta and the ensuing archaeological discoveries inevitably inspired French ornamentistes such as Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. The true fashion for all things Egyptian was however ignited by Baron Vivant-Denon's seminal publication, Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egypte of 1802. From that moment on, 'Egyptomania' reigned supreme and connoisseurs such as John Soane and Thomas Hope led the fashion for the Egyptian taste amongst English aristocratic patrons.
This 'nereid' clock case is identical (save for additional plinth facing mounts) to one signed by the bronzier Claude Galle and the horloger Manière now in the museé de l'Horlogerie, Paris (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 338, fig. 5.3.6). The Paris clock is signed by them both on the dial. Another was sold Christie's London, The Spencer House Sale, 8 July 2010, lot 1048 (£10,000). Interestingly, both the Spencer House clock and the present clock have replacement dials and movements.
Claude Galle (1759-1815) of the rue Faubourg Saint-Germain was elected maître in 1786. Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commissions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied bronzes to Compiègne, Versailles and the Grand Trianon - as well as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.
This 'nereid' clock case is identical (save for additional plinth facing mounts) to one signed by the bronzier Claude Galle and the horloger Manière now in the museé de l'Horlogerie, Paris (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 338, fig. 5.3.6). The Paris clock is signed by them both on the dial. Another was sold Christie's London, The Spencer House Sale, 8 July 2010, lot 1048 (£10,000). Interestingly, both the Spencer House clock and the present clock have replacement dials and movements.
Claude Galle (1759-1815) of the rue Faubourg Saint-Germain was elected maître in 1786. Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commissions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied bronzes to Compiègne, Versailles and the Grand Trianon - as well as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.