France, Louis XVI period
Chased and gilt bronze, blue glass
Movement and dial signed “Roque A PARIS” and signature of the enameller “Barbezat 1776” (painter-enameller)
Similar examples
- An identical clock is preserved in the Pavlovsk Palace
- A very similar clock, of ivory, was made for Mesdames Victoire and Adélaïde at the château de Bellevue, and is now preserved in the château de Versailles
This clock rests on four small feet supporting a terrace in projection with rounded end sides.
A frieze runs on the front and sides, composed of foliage and berries in the spirit of a lotus leaf, around a rod, with intersecting ribbons in their centre. Above, the dial is highlighted by two semi-circular columns-pillars with open worked grooves on a blued glass background, applied on an embossed silver plate. The overall rests on a half-wreathed pedestal with a plinth and twisted laurels, where stands a rectangular compartment also on a blued glass background, from which comes out the case containing the movement and the enamelled dial, both signed “Roque A PARIS” and, on the back of the dial, “Barbezat 1776”.
The bezel, encircled by small pearls, is framed at the top by two triangular rosettes with berries in the centre, and at the bottom, by two crossed branches of laurel leaves and berries knotted in a ribboned ring ending with tassels of trimmings, the ensemble on a blue glass background. The frieze of the cornice is composed of alternating ova and water leaves, as well as a row of pearls. The upper terrace is topped by two leafy pinecones that flank a grooved doucine pedestal on which rests a two-handled grooved and gadrooned covered oblong vase crowned with a seed.
