Antique Mantel Clock in Gilded Bronze. France, 1850

Gorgeous antique ormolu mantel clock with a fine neoclassic style and crowned by a sculpture depicting an Allegory of Music. This lovely clock mounts a thread pendulum and chimes the hours and the halves, displaying a crystal-clear sound. The clock is in optimal condition and works finely after having been fully cleaned and tuned. It boasts a highly decorative power and is the ideal piece to adorn an important sideboard, an antique dining table or the mantelpiece of a stately fireplace. The clocks base is ample and sturdy, standing on four legs decorated with embossed pineapples and volutes. It is shaped like a sarcophagus and bears front embossed motifs related with the top sculpture. These motifs are Pompeian in style and depict two naked young musicians playing a tambourine and a trumpet. Between them there is a womans face. On top of the base we can see the piece that contains the movement and the dial, accompanied by the stated ormolu figure. This sculpture is an Allegory of Music symbolized by a young woman who is playing a lyre. The woman is dressed in the classic Roman style, an aesthetic typical of neoclassic and Empire-style pieces. Leaning on the other side of the clocks dial there is a crosier with some hanging instruments and bunches of grapes (associated with fun and with the playful sense of life that are closely related to god Bacchus). The dial bears black Roman numbers and hands of the same color; it also shows the remains of an inscription reading LE ROY PALAIS ROYAL which indicates that this clock was made by Le Roy et Fils, a famous French watchmaker company founded in 1785 by Basile Charles Le Roy. Years seem not to have passed over this impressive antique ormolu mantel clock, a great piece that will shine anywhere. Measurements: Width: 12.40 in / 31.5 cm. Height: 17.32 in / 44 cm.