Portico Clock With Obelic, Minerva And Athena, Gilt Bronze And Marble, Louis XVI/18th Century

An important Louis XVI period neoclassical portico clock in white Carrara and black Belgian marble, signed by the clockmaker Repond in Paris. Gilt bronze festoon ornaments decorate the base, upon which rest two pedestals with military trophies supporting obelisks, adorned with chains and cannonballs. The pedestals are framed by axle and chain mounts. Atop the clock mechanism is a freestanding figure of Minerva in arms, holding a shield emblazoned with the Gorgoneion. Pierre-Joseph Répond, born in 1752 and admitted as a master clockmaker in 1778, established himself in Paris, first on rue Notre-Dame des Victoires in 1781, then on rue de Montmartre between 1789 and 1806. The clockmaker has a wire-driven movement, a cut-off plate, and its original balance wheel with a fasces motif. Condition: the movement needs servicing, and the chains on the back of the obelisks are missing. Bibliography: Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers, p. 550; Pierre Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française, pp. 204-205.