Wall clock (cartel)

Maker: Clockmaker: Etienne LeNoir (French, 1675–1739)

Manufactory: Case by Chantilly (French)

Date: ca. 1735–40

Culture: French, Paris with French, Chantilly case

Medium: Case: soft-paste porcelain and partly gilded brass; Dial: white enamel; Movement: brass and steel

Dimensions: Overall: 19 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 4 3/4 in. (49.5 × 24.1 × 12.1 cm);
Diameter (back plate): 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm)

Classification: Horology

Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982

Accession Number: 1982.60.84

Description

Étienne Le Noir was the patriarch of a dynasty of French clockmakers who specialized in movements for clocks with lavishly decorated cases for royal and aristocratic patrons. This clock is unique in having its case made of porcelain rather than more typical gilded bronze, and there are only two other surviving examples of wall clocks with Chantilly porcelain cases. The figures imitate Japanese porcelain, as was quite usual at the Chantilly porcelain factory.

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