Charles X Clock Crystal Gilded Bronze, France, circa 1830

Gilded and chiseled bronze clock. On the large rectangular base there is a scene with mythological divinities in relief on a finely chiseled background. Decorations with plant motifs...

Orologio a vaso in bronzo dorato poggiante su un plinto ornato con motivi a foglie susseguenti poggiante su quattro piedini a sfera. Il corpo dalla caratteristica forma a vaso biansa...

Triptych clock in gilded and chiseled bronze with carved and gilded wooden bases. The clock with a large rectangular base features finely worked burin d...

The gilt bronze mantel clock has a base decorated on the front with leafy phytomorphic motifs and a central floral element, and is supported by elaborate spinning top feet that streamline its shape. On the base rests a large plinth...

Tower clock lacquered with gilded and polichromed chinoiserie on a green lacquer background. The tunk is painted with scenes of landscapes with pagodas surrounded by garden where the...

Chandelier in gilded bronze and glass. The open cartouche-shaped structure develops through 12 sliding arms with fluted bell-shaped candle holders and corolla-shaped bobeches over pi...

Dial signed Polti Frères Measures: With base or glass: Height 61 cm (24 in.), width 51,5 cm (20.3 in.), depth 23.5 cm (9,2 in.) Without base: Height 52 cm (20,5 in.), width 42 cm (16.5 in.), depth 12.5 cm (4.9 in.) Important philhellenic clock in burnished and amati gilded bronze, finely chiseled, representing on the terrace a couple elegantly dressed in "the turkish style", and richly decorated with foliage, scrolls and flowers. The feet, decorated with water leaves, rest on an oval wooden base covered with a globe. The theme of the clock comes from The Giaour, a fragment of a Turkish Tale, an English poem by Lord Byron published in may 1813 which tells the thwarted love of a Venetian, the Giaour – term by which the Turks designate infidels and especially Christians – and of Leila, a slave belonging to Hassan’s seraglio, military leader of a Turkish province. The betrayal of Leila discovered, she will be thrown into the sea and her lover will avenge her by killing Hassan, then taking refuge in a monastery. Symbol of prestige and modernity, the decorative clocks are a reflection of the taste of the era of a wealthy bourgeoisie and may be the subject of diplomatic gifts or between individuals. Beyond the purely decorative aspect of such objects, watchmaking in the 19th century is part of a subtle mix of political, historical and literary references. This philhellenic movement converning the West finds a particular echo in France, one of the countries with the United Kingdom and Russia having suported the Greeks during their war of independance (1821-1830) to free oneself from the grip of the Ottoman Empire. Many clocks...

Fire-gilt bronze mantle clock with an amphora-shaped case on an octagonal stand and applied decorations in the form of ears of grain, velaria, laurel wreaths and butterflies. The ena...

French pendule clock, the base, pedestal and columns are out of white marble. The silvered clockface with Roman numerals is inscribed Jeannest à Paris.

This antique mantel clock features blue hands and a fully gilded rim. The heavily ornamented base on which the clock sits is also gilded. A beautiful girl in a dress with puffed slee...

Lovely French Charles X patinated and sienna marble mantel clock. A beautiful Neoclassical patinated bronze standing woman leaning on the clock, standing on Sienna marble plinth. Th...

French mantel clock made of burnished and fire-gilded bronze with an enamelled dial, there inscribed "'a Paris". The pendulum stands on a rectangular base with turned moulding, above...