Galle Rotating Dial Clock
Artist: Claude Galle
Claude Galle (1759-1815)
Important fireplace pendulum called "winged women's vase" in very finely chiseled bronze and gilded with matte gold
Attributed to Claude Galle
Paris, Empire era, around 1805
Height: 60.5 cm
Width: 34 cm
The rotating dials indicate the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals; it is inscribed in a vase entirely made of bronze very finely chiseled and gilded with matt gold: the damping is adorned with a group representing an eagle with outstread wings catching a snake in its clutches; the handles are formed of superb winged female figures holding flaming urns underlined with godrons and whose bodies end in leaves of slit; the whole vase is richly decorated with leaves of pampres, swans faced drinking at a cup, medallions centered by groups depicting child musicians, one of them holding a score, and surmounted by a lion muffle enclosing snakes in an environment decorated with griffins, palmettes, dancing putti holding a drape ended by a flowery and leafy garland on which a bird is perched. The base is decorated with an alternating bouquet of large leaves and stylized palmettes. The flared piedouche is punctuated by a godronnée ring and a torus of leaves and laurel seeds. The whole rests on a quadrangular base on the rounded side with a rebutt surrounded by a cavet with motifs in applique of griffons, rinceaux and ailed female figures. Finally, the whole rests on six small feet in flattened balls.
Historical
More or less directly inspired by neoclassical models made in the second half of the 18th century, the composition of this pendulum-vase is among the most elaborate Parisian watchmaking creations of the Napoleonic period and was notably declined in ornamental vase at the same period; see a pair of vases of this type that appeared in A. Kuchumov, Pavlovsk, Palace & Park, Leningrad, 1975, p.52-53. Among the few similar copies listed are: a first clock, the dial signed "Thonissen in Paris", which belongs to the collections of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart (illustrated in R. Mühe and H. Vogel, Old clocks, Fribourg, 1978, p.116, fig.154); as well as a second, from the collection of Empress Eugenie, which was formerly in the Perez collection of Olaguer-Feliu in Barcelona (reproduced in Luis Monreal y Tejada, Relojes antiguos (1500-1850), Coleccion F. Perez de Olaguer-Feliu, Barcelona, 1955, plate 71, catalog n°90); a third is part of the Spanish royal collections (public in J. Ramon Colon de Carvajal, Catalogo de Relojes del Patrimonio nacional, Madrid, 1987, p.207, n°189); finally, mention two pendulums of this type, one with a circular dial, the other with rotating dials, which are kept at the François Duesberg Museum in Mons (see François Duesberg Museum, Decorative Arts 1775-1825, Brussels, 2004, p.32-33).
Biography
Claude Galle (1759 to 1815)
One of the most eminent bronze makers and foundry-chiselers of the late Louis XVI and the Empire, Claude Galle was born in Villepreux near Versailles. He did his apprenticeship under the foundry Pierre Foy, who married Foy's daughter in 1784. In 1786 he became a master founder. At the death of his father-in-law in 1788, Galle took over the direction of the workshop, which became one of the most important in Paris, employing, at the height of its activity, nearly 400 artisans. Galle moved the workshop first to Quai de la Monnaie (later Quai de l'Unité), then, in 1805, 60 Rue Vivienne.
The furniture guard of the crown, under the direction of sculptor Jean Hauré of 1786-88, did him the honor of several commissions. Galle worked with many notable artisans, such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire; he provided the majority of the bronze furniture at the Château de Fontainebleau during the Empire. He received many imperial orders, for lights, clock boxes, and vases for the palaces of Saint-Cloud, the Trianons, the Tuileries, Compiègne, and Rambouillet. It supplies the Italian palaces of Monte Cavallo in Rome and Stupinigi near Turin.
Important fireplace pendulum called "winged women's vase" in very finely chiseled bronze and gilded with matte gold
Attributed to Claude Galle
Paris, Empire era, around 1805
Height: 60.5 cm
Width: 34 cm
The rotating dials indicate the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals; it is inscribed in a vase entirely made of bronze very finely chiseled and gilded with matt gold: the damping is adorned with a group representing an eagle with outstread wings catching a snake in its clutches; the handles are formed of superb winged female figures holding flaming urns underlined with godrons and whose bodies end in leaves of slit; the whole vase is richly decorated with leaves of pampres, swans faced drinking at a cup, medallions centered by groups depicting child musicians, one of them holding a score, and surmounted by a lion muffle enclosing snakes in an environment decorated with griffins, palmettes, dancing putti holding a drape ended by a flowery and leafy garland on which a bird is perched. The base is decorated with an alternating bouquet of large leaves and stylized palmettes. The flared piedouche is punctuated by a godronnée ring and a torus of leaves and laurel seeds. The whole rests on a quadrangular base on the rounded side with a rebutt surrounded by a cavet with motifs in applique of griffons, rinceaux and ailed female figures. Finally, the whole rests on six small feet in flattened balls.
Historical
More or less directly inspired by neoclassical models made in the second half of the 18th century, the composition of this pendulum-vase is among the most elaborate Parisian watchmaking creations of the Napoleonic period and was notably declined in ornamental vase at the same period; see a pair of vases of this type that appeared in A. Kuchumov, Pavlovsk, Palace & Park, Leningrad, 1975, p.52-53. Among the few similar copies listed are: a first clock, the dial signed "Thonissen in Paris", which belongs to the collections of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart (illustrated in R. Mühe and H. Vogel, Old clocks, Fribourg, 1978, p.116, fig.154); as well as a second, from the collection of Empress Eugenie, which was formerly in the Perez collection of Olaguer-Feliu in Barcelona (reproduced in Luis Monreal y Tejada, Relojes antiguos (1500-1850), Coleccion F. Perez de Olaguer-Feliu, Barcelona, 1955, plate 71, catalog n°90); a third is part of the Spanish royal collections (public in J. Ramon Colon de Carvajal, Catalogo de Relojes del Patrimonio nacional, Madrid, 1987, p.207, n°189); finally, mention two pendulums of this type, one with a circular dial, the other with rotating dials, which are kept at the François Duesberg Museum in Mons (see François Duesberg Museum, Decorative Arts 1775-1825, Brussels, 2004, p.32-33).
Biography
Claude Galle (1759 to 1815)
One of the most eminent bronze makers and foundry-chiselers of the late Louis XVI and the Empire, Claude Galle was born in Villepreux near Versailles. He did his apprenticeship under the foundry Pierre Foy, who married Foy's daughter in 1784. In 1786 he became a master founder. At the death of his father-in-law in 1788, Galle took over the direction of the workshop, which became one of the most important in Paris, employing, at the height of its activity, nearly 400 artisans. Galle moved the workshop first to Quai de la Monnaie (later Quai de l'Unité), then, in 1805, 60 Rue Vivienne.
The furniture guard of the crown, under the direction of sculptor Jean Hauré of 1786-88, did him the honor of several commissions. Galle worked with many notable artisans, such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire; he provided the majority of the bronze furniture at the Château de Fontainebleau during the Empire. He received many imperial orders, for lights, clock boxes, and vases for the palaces of Saint-Cloud, the Trianons, the Tuileries, Compiègne, and Rambouillet. It supplies the Italian palaces of Monte Cavallo in Rome and Stupinigi near Turin.
180 000 €
Period: 19th century
Style: Consulat, Empire
Condition: Perfect condition
Reference (ID): 1689953
Availability: In stock
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