"Allegory of Fidelity to Henri IV" Mantel Clock
Mathieu Planchon · Signed
France, Circa 1880
An antique Louis XVI style mantel clock in white marble and finely chased gilt bronze, signed by the Parisian clockmaker Mathieu Planchon and crafted circa 1880. Renowned for his scholarly reinterpretations of Ancien Régime clocks, Planchon here drew inspiration from a 1780s model, an example of which is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The composition depicts an allegory of fidelity to King Henri IV. A young woman draped in the antique manner holds two hearts in her right hand and supports a medallion bearing the sovereign's profile, resting atop a truncated, fluted marble column. This houses the enameled dial, featuring Arabic numerals and an outer minute track, framed by a tied garland of flowers and laurel. To the right, a child plays with a dog, the traditional symbol of fidelity. The molded base, adorned with garlands of roses and laurel set within beaded borders against a black ground, rests on six foliate ball feet. In the 18th century, Henri IV embodied the ideal of the benevolent king, the guarantor of peace and concord. By reviving this theme a century later, Planchon offered collectors a piece where sculpture, horology, and French history converge: an exceptional object for a salon or library mantelpiece.
3 800 €
- Artist / Maker
- Mathieu Planchon · Signed
- Circa
- 1880
- Origin
- France
Dimensions
- Height : 18.1 in(46 cm)
- Width : 11.8 in(30 cm)
- Depth : 6.7 in(17 cm)
Technique / Materials
- Gilt bronze, Marble
Museum collections
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds an example of this model signed "Charles Dutertre à Paris", on which the medallion is missing (inv. 43.163.24a and b).
Bibliography
- Tardy, Dictionnaire des Horlogers Français, Paris, 1972, p. 525
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