French Ormolu Mantle Clock with Enamel Dial

• Bevel / Chamfer - In furniture making, a chamfered corner refers to a technique used to create a smooth, angled edge on the corner of a piece of furniture. This is typically done by cutting away a small portion of the corner at an angle, typically 45 degrees, creating a diagonal edge, rather than a sharp 90-degree angle. This technique can be used on various parts of a piece of furniture such as table legs, drawer fronts, or door frames. Chamfering can add visual interest to a piece and can help to soften the overall look of a piece of furniture. It is often used in conjunction with other techniques, such as rounding edges or using contrasting wood species to create a more elegant, sophisticated look. Chamfering is a simple way to add a touch of elegance to a piece of furniture and it is a common technique used by furniture makers.
• Ormolu - Ormolu was popular with French craftsmen in the 18th and 19th century for ornamental fittings for furniture, clocks and other decorative items. True ormolu is gilt bronze, that is bronze that has been coated with gold using a mercury amalgam. Due to the health risks associated with using mercury, this method of creating ormolu was discontinued in France in the 1830s. A substitute was developed consisting of about 75% copper and 25% zinc, however it was inferior to the bronze version. It was often lacquered to prevent it tarnishing.
• Acanthus - A stylized leaf motif, one of the primary decorative elements of classical Greek and Roman architecture, derived from the genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Mediterranean area. It is a common element in classical Greek and Roman design, and is often seen in Corinthian and Composite order columns and used as a decorative element in English, European and Australian furniture, particularly on the curve of a leg, and as decoration for a corbel.
• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• Brocot Escapement - The Brocot escapement was invented by the French clockmaker Achille Brocot in 1828. It is a type of escapement, which is a mechanism in a timepiece that controls the movement of the gears and regulates the timekeeping accuracy.
  
  The Brocot escapement is a variation of the detent escapement and it is used in pendulum and spring-driven clocks. It uses a pair of pallets that engage and lock the escape wheel, allowing the clock's power to be transferred to the balance wheel. The escapement also allows the clock's gears to advance in small, precise increments, which helps to improve the clock's timekeeping accuracy. The Brocot escapement was widely used in 19th century for both domestic and public clocks, also it was widely used in marine chronometers.
  
  The Brocot escapement is known for its high accuracy and stability

This item has been included into following indexes:

• clocks, mantle & shelf, material or style - gilt metal / ormolu 547
• clocks, mantle & shelf, period or origin
  • French 761
  • Victorian 493