A Louis XVI bisque Porcelain Mantel Clock

late 19th century

A Louis XVI bisque (or "biscuit") porcelain figural mantel clock (French, late 19th century) made by the Sèvres Porcelain Factory. This clock is a copy of a c. 1770 marble clock attributed to the noted French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791) currently in the collection of the Louvre Museum. The enamel dial has black Roman numerals below a second hand dial with Arabic numerals; the two dials forming a band set within a laurel-draped urn with scroll formed handles and a removable lid decorated with stiff leaves and a pinecone finial. The urn is raised on a fluted column and surrounded by the figures of the Three Graces - Aglaia representing Brilliance, Euphrosyne representing Joy, and Thalia representing Bloom - linked by a floral swag and mounted on a rectangular plinth inset with plaques of frolicking putti in low relief. The whole is raised on a molded ormolu base. The Three Graces were mythological goddesses who controlled pleasure, charm, beauty, and elegance.

French

porcelain

ormolu

metal

25" x 12.75" x 10"

Gift of the Estate of Mrs. Harry Baltazzi, 1991.

PSNC.11594