BY CLAUDE GALLE, PARIS, CIRCA 1810

Details

AN EMPIRE ORMOLU, PATINATED BRONZE AND MARBLE STRIKING MANTEL CLOCK
BY CLAUDE GALLE, PARIS, CIRCA 1810
The milestone-shaped case centred by a lyre and flanked by two classically-draped maidens, above a rouge griotte marble base decorated with an acanthus and palmette frieze, on bun feet, the dial with serpent bezel, the white enamel dial with Roman hours and signed Galle/ Rue Vivienne no. 9, the twin barrel movement with silk suspension and count wheel strike to bell
19 ¾ in. (50.2 cm.) high; 26 in. (66 cm.) wide; 7 in. (17.8 cm.) deep

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 16 April 2007, lot 627.
Robert de Balkany: Rome & the Cote d’Azur; Christie’s, London, March 22-23 2017, lot 123.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Paul Gallois

pgallois@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2260

Lot Essay

Claude Galle (d.1815) was amongst the greatest bronziers and fondeur-ciseleurs of the late Louis XVI and Empire periods. First patronized by the Garde-meuble de la Couronne under Jean d'Heure from 1786-1788, he is known to have collaborated with Pierre-Philipe Thomire, amongst others, and was responsible for much of the bronzes d'ameublement supplied to Fontainebleau during the Napoleonic Empire. A clock of the same model by Claude Galle and similarly signed to the dial as the present lot, sold Perrin-Royere-Lajeunesse, Versailles, 25 November 1984, lot 130 (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 709, fig, 28).

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