Mantel clock (pendule à console)
Jean-Philippe Gosselin|Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain
ca. 1750 · Case: bronze, formerly gilded, silvered or lacquered; dial: white enamel, with black numerals; movement: brass and steel · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Ornamental bronzes—which are easily cast from molds and made to simulate solid gold or, occasionally, solid silver by the application of thin layers of precious metals—were ubiquitous in the décor and furnishings of an eighteenth-century French palace, townhouse, or château. This clock, signed by one of the most admired bronze founder-chasers, Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain, has lost all of its original gilding but preserves the undulating scrolls interspersed with floral motifs that are characteristic of French rococo design at its liveliest.
- Artist
- Jean-Philippe Gosselin|Jean-Joseph de Saint Germain
- Date
- ca. 1750
- Medium
- Case: bronze, formerly gilded, silvered or lacquered; dial: white enamel, with black numerals; movement: brass and steel
- Culture
- French, Paris
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- Bequest of Ogden Mills, 1929
