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Mantel clock (pendule de cheminée)

Movement by the workshop of Julien Le Roy French
Case maker: Joseph Baumhauer French
Modeler Bronze figure from a model by Laurent Guiard
ca. 1757–60
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 524
Laurent Guiard provided the model for the figure titled “Time’s Employment” adorning this clock. The design proved to be among the most popular in eighteenth-century France. One of the most inventive clockmakers of the time, and clockmaker to Louis XV, Le Roy contributed significantly to the development of the marine chronometer. After his death, his son Pierre Le Roy used his name, making it difficult to distinguish the work of father from son.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mantel clock (pendule de cheminée)
  • Maker: Movement by the workshop of Julien Le Roy (French, Tours 1686–1759 Paris)
  • Maker: Case maker: Joseph Baumhauer (French, active ca. 1749–72)
  • Modeler: Bronze figure from a model by Laurent Guiard (1723–1788)
  • Date: ca. 1757–60
  • Culture: French, Paris
  • Medium: Case: gilded and patinated bronze on a base of oak veneered with ebony with gilded-bronze mounts; Dial: white enamel with black numerals; Movement: brass and steel
  • Dimensions: Overall: 19 × 27 1/2 × 11 in. (48.3 × 69.9 × 27.9 cm)
  • Classification: Horology
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.8
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Watch, Julien Le Roy French, Gold, enamel, copper, French, Paris
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Julien Le Roy
18th century
Mantel clock, Julien Le Roy French, Chantilly soft-paste porcelain mounted on gilt bronze, flowers of soft- and hard-paste porcelain; clock face of white enameled metal, French, Paris with French, Chantilly case
Mantel clock
Julien Le Roy
Chantilly
ca. 1745–49
Repeater watch, Julien Le Roy French, Gold, enamel, French, Paris
Repeater watch
Julien Le Roy
I. T.
ca. 1755
Longcase astronomical regulator, Ferdinand Berthoud French, Case: oak veneered with ebony and brass, with gilt-bronze mounts; Dial: white enamel; Movement: gilded brass and steel, French, Paris
Longcase astronomical regulator
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1768–70
Wall clock (pendule en cartel), Jean Godde l'aîné French, Case: gilded bronze, oak, and tortoiseshell on brass marquetry on oak; Dial: white enamel and gilded brass with blued-steel hands; Movement: brass and steel, French, Paris
Wall clock (pendule en cartel)
Jean Godde l'aîné
Charles Cressent
ca. 1740–45

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