Object Description
This magnificent mantel clock—which measures an impressive 82cm in height—was crafted in France, in the period when Napoleon I was Emperor (1804-1814, 1815). The clock was crafted by Michel-François Piolaine, an important clock-maker, working in Paris in the early 19th Century. Piolaine created high-quality and beautiful timepieces, many of which now form part of major decorative art displays, such as the British Royal Collection in Windsor Castle.
The clock is architectural in its shape, featuring a domed top supported on columns. The dome is crowned by a ball-shaped pinecone finial, and it is decorated with rosettes, laurel branches, and stylised palmettes. Four pinecone finials stand on the corners of a projecting cornice, which is supported by columns with foliate capitals, central bands, and bases. The rectangular clock features, at its centre, a circular glass case, which contains a white enamel dial with black Arabic Numbers and the maker’s name, ‘Piolaine/ A Paris’. The clock body is elaborately decorated with scrolling grape vines, acanthus leaves, palmettes, and a fruit basket. The clock stands on a rectangular base, which is encircled by a leaf-and-dart moulding, and set on four block feet.