Decorative arts

Mantel Clock

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Type: Decorative arts(Opens in new tab)
Date: ca. 1785 and later
Accession number: 27.182
Maker: Japy Freres & Cie(Opens in new tab) (French, born 1807)
Dimensions: 24 3/4 x 16 x 9 1/8 in. (62.9 x 40.6 x 23.2 cm.)
Medium: gilt and blued bronze, marble, enamel, glass, brass
Description: The clock is set in a barrel-shaped case flanked on either side by standing putti. Above the clock, there is a vase decorated with swags of grapevines, a revolving enamel band with paintings of female divinities and putti, and a seated putto on the top. The standing putti hold attributes of the 'arts,' in contrast with the putti on the related clock in the Wallace Collection, which hold emblems of astronomy. The putto on the left carrie a paint brush and stands with a foot on a sculpted female head, a scroll, and a mallet. The right putto holds a sheet of paper with calipers at his feet. Putti playing decorate the plaque at the base of the clock. The clockworks are modern replacements stamped 'Japy Freres et Cir 173.3.11.'
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)

Label text

This clock closely resembles one described in a 1785 inventory of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s chateau at St. Cloud. Though the connection is unconfirmed, the possible royal provenance would have been appealing to Henry Huntington as he formed a collection to memorialize his late wife, Arabella.

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