Large Cartel And Its Boulle Marquetry Console In Tortoiseshell And Brass

Large cartel and its console in Boulle marquetry in tortoiseshell and brass, inspired by architecture and richly molded. The marquetry presents motifs of arabesques, foliage, lambrequins and a Berain decoration on the top of the cartel. The cartel is richly adorned with gilded and chiseled bronzes. On the front, under the drum, an openwork bronze decoration in relief presents a chariot pulled by two horses driven by Apollo. He is accompanied by a cherub and a figure shown from behind. The uprights are decorated with trophies representing the attributes of Apollo (the quiver, the arrows and the bow), followed by a lyre and a theater mask. At the top of the cartel surmounted by firepots, sits the goddess of Victory who sounds the "Conquest of the arts" in her trumpet. The cartel rests on four small feet surmounted by large and impressive garlands wrapped in laurels ending in a lion's head. The console supporting the cartel is composed of two large volutes framing the console surmounted by masks of young women. The dial with twelve enamels indicates the hours in Roman numerals with a chiselled brass plate in its centre. The dial is signed “Hommet à Paris” Louis XIV period Usual restorations H. 119 x W. 45 x D. 19 cm