Anonymous

French table clock

19th Century

gilded and blued bronze

56.5 x 41 x 15 cm

Inv. no. 2624

BBVA Collection Spain


This is an excellent example of the
clocks made in Europe in the 19th century imitating French models from the time of Louis XVI, the apogee of pendulum clocks with figurines, in which the timepiece itself was a mere excuse for the creation of ornamental pieces, sculptures and complicated compositions.

This pendulum clock has two bodies. A Greco-Roman woman dressed in a tunic and wearing a crown of flowers is placed on a large base comprising friezes of Egyptian palm trees and neoclassical leaves, with alternating gilded and blued bronze.

Made in gilded bronze, the figure is resting against a blued bronze stone which houses a silvered dial with Roman numerals for the hours and the minutes. The mechanism, with a Paris-type French pendulum, has a chiming train which strikes on the hour and the half-hour with an eight-day cycle. The arbors are located at the height of 4 and of 8. Over the 12 is another arbour for adjusting the time.