Empire clock. France, ca. 1810.

Empire clock. France, ca. 1810.
"L'Amour et la fidelité".
Gilded and blued bronze.
Measurements: 52 x 31 cm.

Empire table clock whose dial is inscribed in a curtain resting on a console in which a putto with bow and arrow and a dog are flanked by two "athéniennes". The piece follows the models of Jean-Simon Deverberie , one of the most important bronze artists in Paris at the end of the 18th century and the first two decades of the following century. He specialized almost exclusively in the creation of clocks, torches and candelabra, decorated with exotic figures, in particular African; in fact, around 1800, he filed numerous preparatory drawings for clocks called "au nègre", in particular the models known as "l'Afrique", "l'Amérique" and "Indien et Indienne enlacés" (the drawings are now preserved in the Cabinet of Prints of the National Library of Paris). He set up his studio successively in the rue Barbette from 1800, in the rue du Temple around 1804 and in the rue des Fossés du Temple between 1812 and 1820.

Nineteenth-century bronze table clocks were key pieces in decoration and interior design, as well as symbols of social status and refinement. Elaborately crafted and often adorned with artistic motifs, these clocks not only served to measure time, but also reflected the technical advances and taste for fine craftsmanship of the time. Bronze, a durable and aesthetically appreciated material, allowed the creation of complex and elegant forms, integrating styles such as neoclassical or rococo.