Gilded Louis XVI Style Figural Clock
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - Spelter - Spelter was the name given to an alloy of zinc and brass or copper used in the 19th century for statuary and lighting. It is a brittle bluish-white metal. It was used as a cheap replacement for bronze, but being brittle easily breaks and can't be repaired. When finished it can often be mistaken for bronze, but if discreet a scratch on the base displays shows a greyish colour, the metal is spelter, if a golden colour the metal is most likely bronze.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
Franz Hermle Son German metal clock heavily cast with a figure of a horse & rider, with a key. Condition: good, missing two numbers, working, running fast, needs a service. Height 40.5 cm
An onyx and gilt metal figural clock in the Louis XVI style, 19th century, with key, with an enamel dial with Roman numerals set within a drum head surmounted by an urn issuing fruits and produce emblematic of the harvest and autumn and flanked by a young
A Louis XV style ormolu mantle clock, 19th century, with maker's mark for A.D Mougin, the waisted clock lavishly cast and chased with rocaille forms, having an enamel dial with blue Roman numerals and minute markings; with key and pendulum, height 41.5 cm,
A Louis XVI style ormolu figural mantle clock, later 19th century, with mark of L.P Japy et Cie, 1878; key and pendulum, finely cast with a reclining pelt draped cupid with bow and arrow, a side drum head enclosing an enamel dial marked Bruet, St Denis and