Decorative arts

Mantel Clock

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Type: Decorative arts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1800-1810
Accession number: 10.107
Makers: Antoine Philibert(Opens in new tab) (French, 1776–1820); Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory(Opens in new tab) (French, born 1756)
Dimensions: 21 in. (53.3 cm.)
Medium: Marble, gilt bronze, porcelain, enamel, glass, brass.
Description: The clock's pedestal is supported by two sphinxes. The pedestal is decorated with two medallions and gilt bronze mounts. The clock itself is mounted on a second pedestal which has a low-relief frieze running around the entire base. At the top of the clock is a putto in a chariot, pulled by a bird. On either side of the clock are paired biscuit figures of a woman and a putto.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

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The theme of this clock seems to be the various activities of Amour (Love), or Cupid, who appears in the Sèvres biscuit porcelain figures, both giving and receiving lessons of love. Stock porcelain figures such as these were typical decoration for clocks. In fact, the Huntington collection includes another early 19th-century French clock, given to the museum in the late 1970s, with the same figures.

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