Gilt Bronze Wall Clock, Louis XVI Period, 18th Century

A gilt and chased bronze wall clock, the so-called "espagnolette" model, signed on the enamel dial by the clockmaker Tavernier for Jean-Pierre Tavernier, who became a master in 1746. A decorative, violin-shaped clock with espagnolette-decorated shoulders and a finial adorned with an antique-style urn with ample laurel festoons. An identical example signed Javelot in Paris is held in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Circa 1770-1780. Height: 67 cm. Star-wheel count mechanism, but with a modified suspension. Condition: Gilt preserved, needs cleaning; minute hand repaired. Bibliography: Several similar examples are illustrated by Courvoisier in P. Heuer-Klaus Maurice, European Pendulum Clocks, 1988, p. 40, fig. 54-by Charles Leroy in Henriot, Bronzes and sculpted wood from private collections, plate 6-by Gilles l'Aine in G. and A. Lannenes, the most beautiful French clocks from Louis XIV to the Empire, Florence, 2013, p. 182