Large bisque table clock “Orpheus charming the animals”, Paris

“Orpheus enchanting the animals” large and beautiful table clock in white bisque and gilt bronze mounts.  Original movement with silk string. The bisque model was first created by the manufactory of the ” Duc d’Angoulême” and their follower Dihl et Guérhard.  No marks. High quality. Louis XVI style, first quarter of the 19th century. The movement has been revised by our professional clockmaker and is operating.

Size: H 53 cm x W 47 cm x D 21 cm

Neoclassical style table clock in white biscuit. It is a sculptural clock, and the theme represented comes from Greek mythology: Orpheus as a charmer of animals when he plays his lyre. We see the god of music (with his lyre made of gilded bronze), wrapped in a draped tunic, with a body of harmonious proportions and an idealized face, touched by a floral garland. He is seated on the clock case and is being listened to by different animals: a dog, a goat and a sheep. The clock face, housed in the center of the sculptural group, has Arabic numerals. The whole sits on a molded base with festoons and bells in gilded bronze. Rockery motifs, scrolls and scallops in gilded bronze decorate the skirt of the pedestal.

Lit: A version of this clock with a variation in the animals is part of the Ephrussi de Rotschild Foundation collection (Académie des Beaux-Arts of Paris). Displayed in the Salon des Fragonard in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, South of France.