Object Description
Rare and large ormolu mounted malachite mantel clock signed Manière
French, 19th Century
Height 60cm, width 35.5cm, depth 13cm
With an enamel dial signed ‘Maniére / A Paris’, this magnificent Neoclassical mantel was made in France in the 19th century and features elaborate ormolu decorations and later malachite veneer that gives the piece an eye-catching and radiant glow.
The drum for the clock is surrounded by ribbons, flaming vases and a pineapple surmount, and features below a hanging sunburst pendulum. On either side the clock is flanked by female terms, caryatid-like busts on tapering columns. Manière was a leading clockmaker of late Louis XVI period France, and he collaborated with some of the finest sculptors and bronziers of the time, to create magnificent pieces such as this.