EARLY ANTIQUE FRENCH ALABASTER CLOCK SET CUPID MENACING LOVE C1820

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EARLY ANTIQUE FRENCH ALABASTER CLOCK SET CUPID MENACING LOVE C1820:
$5818.13

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Early Antique French Alabaster Clock Set ~ Cupid
after Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716-1791)

~ French- Circa 1820 ~

~~ Excellent condition, fully working ~~

An early and stunning clock set featuring a charming figure of Cupid, L’Amour Menaçant (MenacingLove) after the famous sculpture by Falconet currently in the Louvre. It is beautifully carvedfrom crisp white alabaster, Cupid leans on the clock, asking for silence as hepulls out an arrow. The pair of classical urns are finely carved to be semitransparent, decorated with beautiful acanthus leaves.

The dial is mercury gilded bronze (Bronze Doré)with engine turned centre and Breguet hands in blued steel. The dial is signedfor the clockmaker Philippe Thomas of Paris.

The French movement is of high quality and is in excellent clean and running condition.It is an early movement with silk suspension and outside hammer spring. Pendulum is a replacement.It runs for 8days and strikes the hours and halves on a bell. Click the video clip below to hearthe bell and watch the clock running!

This famous Sèvres model is known as l'Amour Falconet after designerEtienne Maurice Falconet, director of sculpture at Sèvres from 1757 to 1766. He exhibited the original plaster versions of the figure at the Salon in 1755. The marble version of Cupid, made for Madame de Pompadour, was exhibited at the Salon in 1757, and then went to the Hôtel d’Evreux, her Paris house, which is now the Elysée Palace. The following year, 1758, the model was produced in biscuit at Sèvres. His pair, Psyche, was first produced in biscuit in 1761.Cupid was always known as L’Amour Falconet at Sèvres. The plaster and marble versions have been variously called L’AmourMenaçant, L’Amour Silencieux and Garde à Vous. The first biscuit example was sold on December 28, 1758 and Madame de Pompadour purchased one on December 30. Other royal purchasers of biscuit Cupids include the duc d’Orléans, Madame Victoire, Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI and the duchesse de Chartres. Cupid is called “threatening” (menaçant)because he is about to withdraw a treacherous arrow – which compels its victimto fall in love – from his quiver, while placing a finger to his lips to signifysilence or a secret.

There are several clockmakers named Thomas listed in Tardy; Dictionnaire Des HorlogersFrancais, but Philippe Thomasfits the date of this clock. He is listed as working in Rue J.J. Rousseau in1820.

Ref: Department of Sculptures, Room 222 The Louvre. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, room 1.9.British Museum; A Catalogue of French Porcelain in The British Museum, London, BMP, 1994, Dawson 1994. Savage, George, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century French Porcelain, London, Barrie & Rockliff, 1960.

Condition of the case isgood, alabaster is a fragile material and there are several small losses andrepairs. Cupids wing has a repair, there is a repaired chip to the right handside of the base and there is a glued repair to the stem of one vase. Lossesinclude 2 fingers to cupids hand, an acanthus leaf on the rear of one urn andsmall losses to the applied rosettes on the clock and vase bases. There is somediscolouration and staining of the alabaster. The vases have previously beenwired as lamps. Dial is in lovely brightcondition.

Dial Signed for PhilippeThomas of Paris.

Complete with pendulum, bell and a suitable key. Full setting upinstructions supplied if required.

**Listed in UKP and USD, please see our store for your prefered currency**

Dimensions of clock:

inches

Height 18 1/4", Width 11 1/2", Depth 6"

centimetres

Height 46.5 cm, Width 29 cm, Depth 15 cm

Dimensions of vases:

inches

Height 14 1/4", Width 6 1/4", Depth 6 1/4"

centimetres

Height 36 cm, Width 16 cm, Depth 16 cm

About us- All of our clocks are original antiques, we source most of our clocks inFrance, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. We prefer to buy our clocks inoriginal 'dirty' condition. We then clean the cases using a technique we havedeveloped over many years. We employ two qualified clockmakers who overhaulthe movements. Movements are thoroughly tested until we are satisfied that theywill run trouble free.

International Shipping is no problem - fully insured

We use a premium courier such as UPS, DHL etc or a dedicated/specialistantiques courier.
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