Mantel clock (horloge de cheminée)

Case by Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain French

ca. 1745

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 529

The asymmetrical scrolling base and the use of exotic figures places this clock in the realm of the chinoiserie, extremely fashionable in mid-eighteenth-century France. Jean Joseph de Saint-Germain, one of the most admired bronziers at the time, created and signed a number of gilt-bronze clock cases of this model but with variations. A member of the successful Le Roy dynasty of horlogiers, Charles Le Roy made a number of movements for cases by Saint Germain.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Mantel clock (horloge de cheminée)
Maker: Case by Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain (French, 1719–1791)
Maker: Movement by Charles Leroy (French, 1726–1779)
Date: ca. 1745
Culture: French
Medium: Gilded and chased bronze; white enamel
Dimensions: 24 × 20 1/2 × 8 1/2 in. (61 × 52.1 × 21.6 cm)
Classification: Horology
Credit Line: Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
Object Number: 2019.283.70
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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