Denière clock in Louis XVI style, ca. 1860

DENIÈRE clock in Louis XVI style after a model of the eighteenth century by FESTEAU LE JEUNE. France, ca. 1860.
Gilt bronze and white marble.
Dial signed "Denière Ft de Bronzes".
Measurements: 43 x 17.5 x 17.5 cm.

This Louis XVI style table clock stands on a square base with beads and lentil feet. On it rests the lower half of a fluted column that houses the clock face (of circular enamel format with Arabic numerals and gilt metal hands in the form of lyre and fleur-de-lis pierced within a braided rope bezel and glazed door surrounded by garlands of laurel and foliage). The column is crowned by a putto worked in round bulk of harmonious and graceful gestures. The base of the column is embellished with a bas-relief with a parade of musical putti.

The signature "Denière" or "Denière Fabt de Bronzes à Paris" corresponds to Jean-François Denière (1774-1866), one of the most important bronze artists of the last years of the 18th century and the first decades of the following century. Within a few years, he became one of the most important suppliers of furniture bronzes by working for the Impe-rial Furniture Store; at the same time, he built up a wealthy private clientele and founded, until 1820, a partnership with François-Thomas Matelin that allowed him to participate in the decoration of most of the imperial palaces and castles by delivering furniture and clock bronzes from some of his fellow bronzesmiths.