BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, THE DESIGN TO LOUIS-CONSTANT SEVIN

Details

A LARGE FRENCH ORMOLU AND CLOISONNE ENAMEL THREE-PIECE CLOCK GARNITURE
BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, THE DESIGN TO LOUIS-CONSTANT SEVIN
Comprising a mantle clock and a pair of eight-branch and nine-light candelabra; the clock modelled as a lidded urn signed 'F. BARBEDIENNE' above a rectangular spreading base hung with foliate swags and fronted by a dial with Roman numerals on white enamel cartouches around a central, enamelled field with ray decoration, with pierced gilt hands, with short pendulum on metal spring suspension, rack striking mechanism with half-hour and hour strike on bell, the mechanism inscribed '7211' the candelabra en suite and signed 'F. BARBEDIENNE'
The clock: 25 ¹/₄ in. (64 cm.) high; 17 ³/₄ in. (45 cm.) wide; 11 ¹/₄ in. (28.5 cm.) deep
The candelabra: 36 ¹/₈ in. (95 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's London, 15 May 2014, lot 433.

Literature

Comparative Literature:
H. Williams, Enamels of the World 1700-2000,The Khalili Collections, London, 2009, p. 73.

Brought to you by

Benjamin Berry Head of Sale, Associate Specialist

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Lot Essay

A related clock garniture of apparently identical design and scale was commissioned from Barbedienne by Herter Brothers for William H. Vanderbilt’s Fifth Avenue mansion, Barbedienne and the Herter brothers having maintained a close professional relationship from at least 1867 when Barbedienne produced a clock for the firm designed by Louis-Constant Sévin and Gustave Herther. Another similar garniture in the larger size and with putti supporting the urn clock is in the Khalili Collection (see H. Williams, Enamels of the World 1700-2000, The Khalili Collections, 2009, p. 73).