Empire Empire Clock De Beauharnais

Beautiful clock signed Claude Galle. She represents Josephine de Beauharnais mirroring herself in her bathroom. It is a very decorative model of a very good quality of engraving. The clock is dated 1806 in the springs which is very early in the empire. Claude Galle (1759-1815) is one of the most important bronziers in Paris at the end of the 18th century and the Empire period. Initially, he collaborated with the foundry Antoine-André Ravrio and with Jean-Hauré, through which he participated in the creation of certain pieces of cabinetwork Guillaume Benneman intended for the Crown. Under the Consulate and the Empire, he became one of the main competitors of his colleague Pierre-Philippe Thomire and provided many bronzes of furniture for the Garde-meuble impérial, notably by participating in the decoration of the palaces of Compiègne and Fontainebleau, as well as that of the Quirinale palaces in Rome and Stupinigi in Turin. He retired from business around 1813.