Clock (pendule à console)

Louis Mÿnüel|Charles Cressent

ca. 1720–23 · Case: oak veneered with brass and tortoiseshell with gilded-bronze mounts; Dial: gilded brass and enamel · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

French cabinetmaker Charles Cressent broke Paris guild restrictions by making his own bronze fittings for furniture and clocks instead of going to bronze founders. Among the bronzes seized from his workshop in 1723 were figures of Leda and the Swan to be “placed below the dial” and a sphinx to be “used at the foot of a clock.” These decorative mounts are similar to those on this clock case, which also features a bronze Cupid holding a scythe, symbolizing Love conquering Time.

Artist

Louis Mÿnüel|Charles Cressent

Date

ca. 1720–23

Medium

Case: oak veneered with brass and tortoiseshell with gilded-bronze mounts; Dial: gilded brass and enamel

Culture

French, Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1961