Important Gilt Bronze Clock Attributed To Pierre-philippe Thomire Empire Period 19th Century

Important Pendulum in the shape of a Medici vase in finely chiseled gilded bronze attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, Empire period, early 19th century. The upper part has a removable cover delicately carved with openwork palmettes topped with a pine cone. White enameled dial signed "Engaz à Paris" indicating the hours in Roman numerals and the days in Arabic numerals. The dial is topped with garlands of flowers and fruit held by a wrapped bow. The handles are composed of women draped in the antique style resting on scrolls. The lower part presents a mask of Mercury in the center united to the handles by garlands of delicately chiseled flowers. It rests on a double evolution sea green marble base decorated with a mascaron, palmettes and a frieze of flowers. water in gilded bronze, ending in four small spinning top feet. Movement with dates and original wire suspension operating with its key (revised by our watchmaker) Mercury gilding with original double patina of remarkable quality in very good condition (cleaned by our workshop, slight wear) The model of this clock is reproduced in “Furniture and objects of taste, 1796-1830” and is largely inspired by a pair of vases made by Boizot for the Sèvres factory in 1783 and of which Thomire imagined and created the bronzes: only one model is completed, kept at the Louvre Museum (OA 6627), the other vase, unfinished, is kept at the Pitti Palace in Florence. This model will be made again by Thomire and Boizot in a reduced size version: Pair on deposit at the Palace of Versailles (OA6614, OA6615) delivered for Louis XVI in 1785. The general shape of these vases and their decoration, the handles formed by two women draped in the antique caryatid style of this clock, correspond to Thomire's model. The clock that we are presenting can be compared to a copy kept at the François Duesberg museum in Mons, a clock from the collections of the national museum of the Château de Fontainebleau (F 3803) delivered in 1806 by Lepaute (uncle and nephew) and placed in apartment n°1, golden door.