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- Pedestal clock
- Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732)
- Jacques-Augustin Thuret (died 1739), Movement Maker
- France
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- Date: About 1712–20
- Medium: Brass, turtleshell veneer, gilt bronze, oak, glass and enamel
- Object size: 100.2 x 52 x 31 cm
- Inv: F43
- Location: Large Drawing Room
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- Description
- Provenance
- Marks/Inscriptions
- Further Reading
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- This clock is a model often supplied by Boulle and can be securely attributed to him. Veneered with 'première-partie' Boulle marquetry of brass and turtleshell, it is mounted with the gilt-bronze figures of Love Triumphing over Time. The movement is by Thuret, who, like Boulle, had lodgings in the Louvre. It is closely related to the mantel clock made by Boulle for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni now in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, which can be dated to about 1712 and which also has a movement by Thuret. See also F41 in the Wallace Collection.
The allegory of Love Triumphing over Time was a popular motif for clocks made in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here, the figure of Love at the top formerly held Time’s scythe in his left hand. The recumbent figure of Time derives from a model by the sculptor François Girardon. Boulle produced a group of these clocks, which can be dated between 1708 and 1720.
The clock is supported by a pedestal (F52), which is closely linked to a design by Gilles-Marie Oppenordt, an architect and designer who was employed, amongst other clients, by the Régent, Philippe, duc d'Orléans. A drawing of a longcase clock for the comte de Toulouse (dated about 1718), attributed to Oppenordt, shows a base very similar to the Wallace pedestal. The execution of the comte de Toulouse's clock, and of this pedestal, has been attributed to Boulle.
However, recent research suggests that the pedestal may not be from the Boulle workshop, but may be the work of Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt, the father of the architect/designer. This is based on similarities between the mounts of this and other clock pedestals by Oppenordt, as well as the very different 'feel' of the marquetry to that produced in the Boulle workshop. It may be that Boulle and Oppenordt collaborated on commissions, as they both worked for the royal administration and had lodgings in the Louvre. On occasion, both workshops may have worked to one design; in this instance, Boulle producing the clock and Oppenordt the pedestal.
- This clock is a model often supplied by Boulle and can be securely attributed to him. Veneered with 'première-partie' Boulle marquetry of brass and turtleshell, it is mounted with the gilt-bronze figures of Love Triumphing over Time. The movement is by Thuret, who, like Boulle, had lodgings in the Louvre. It is closely related to the mantel clock made by Boulle for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni now in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, which can be dated to about 1712 and which also has a movement by Thuret. See also F41 in the Wallace Collection.