Louis XVI clock, c. 1780

Louis XVI table clock, ca. 1780.
Gilt bronze, marble and enamel dial.
With silk thread suspension and exposed back.
Retains pendulum.
The key is not original.
Measurements: 56 x 56 cm.

This clock fully responds to the Louis XVI style, characterized by the return to formal clarity and the vocabulary of classical antiquity. The composition is organized in a symmetrical and balanced way, with an architectural case raised on a white marble base, a material associated with the neoclassical taste for purity and visual nobility.
The lion figures in gilded bronze stand out, arranged on both sides of the clock, traditional symbols of strength, vigilance and authority. Their naturalistic modeling and the richness of the gilding bring dynamism to an essentially sober structure. The enameled circular dial, clear and elegant, blends harmoniously into the architecture of the whole, crowned by a decorative finial of classical inspiration.
The front of the base is enriched with gilded reliefs of allegorical and ornamental character, along with geometric and astral motifs that reinforce the neoclassical language and the refined character of the object.
Made in the last third of the 18th century, this clock is part of a time of aesthetic transition in France, when courtly taste abandoned the excesses of Rococo in favor of an ideal of order, symmetry and rationality, influenced by archaeological discoveries and Enlightenment thought.
The combination of technical precision and sculptural refinement makes this clock a representative example of the French decorative arts of the Louis XVI period, where watchmaking, sculpture and architecture are integrated into a unitary work.