19th Century Table Clock in Bisque Porcelain after Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre F.L. Fontaine (1762-1853)

This table clock in biscuit, or bisque porcelain which is unglazed, fired white porcelain treated as a final product for its matte appearance and texture and widely used from the later 18th century throughout Europe for sculptural and decorative objects. The design closely follows models made by Charles Percier in collaboration with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, eighteenth century aristocrats also known as “Napoleons Architects”.  The clock has a trapezoidal body in the centreof which is the clock face. Bas-reliefs of female figures inspired by the friezes of Ancient Greece run along the front. The god Apollo crosses the sky with his solar chariot. Floral festoons complete the decoration.

Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre Fontaine (1762-1853) known as “Napoleon’s architects,” were not only the Emperor’s official government architects, but two of the most celebrated teachers at the legendary Ecole des Beaux-Arts, responsible for developing the highly influential neoclassical Empire, or Directoire, style of design. In addition to their renovations to the Louvre and the Tuileries, and construction of the Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel, they are best known for Empress Josephine’s house at Malmaison, where they effectively invented the profession of interior design by crafting every detail including all the furnishings.

Dimensions: height 24.25″ x width 1″ x depth 8.25″