“Retour d’Égypte” fireplace surround. France, last quarter of the 19th century.

“Retour d’Égypte” fireplace set. France, last quarter of the 19th century.
A three-piece set consisting of a table clock and two obelisks.
Black marble, onyx, and gilded and patinated bronze.
Paris-style movement signed “Bonnet & Pottier, Paris.”
White enamel dial with Roman numerals.
Includes key and pendulum.
The movement requires servicing.
Bibliographic reference: model reproduced in Pierre Kjellberg, *Encyclopédie de la pendule française. Du Moyen Âge au XXe siècle*, Paris, Éditions de l’Amateur, 2005.
Measurements: 41 x 50 x 21 cm (clock); 48 cm (height of obelisks).

With a monumental composition, the clock is centered around an architecturally structured timepiece, flanked by two freestanding obelisks. The design evokes the pylons and temples of ancient Egypt through sloping profiles, bold geometric volumes, stepped cornices, and bases with a pronounced horizontal orientation. The central case is crowned by a large male sphinx wearing the nemes, while two gilded bronze winged sphinxes guard the dial.

The ornamental repertoire brings together some of the most characteristic motifs of the Egyptian Renaissance: obelisks, freely interpreted hieroglyphs, falcons, sphinxes, and the winged sun disk flanked by uraei or sacred cobras. This last emblem, engraved and gilded on the front of the base, reinforces the ceremonial character of the piece. The white enamel dial, featuring Roman numerals and Breguet-style hands, is framed by a gilt-bronze border that introduces a classical counterpoint within the Egyptian-inspired composition.

The hallmarks of its sumptuous character are the black marble, the veined green onyx, and the gilded bronze. The obelisks, decorated with incised and polychrome pseudo-hieroglyphic motifs, extend the verticality of the ensemble, while the stepped sides of the clock mimic the arrangement of large architectural ashlars.

The piece is part of the historicist revival of the Retour d’Égypte style, which spread throughout France following the Napoleonic campaign of 1798 and experienced a strong resurgence during the second half of the 19th century. The publication of the *Description de l’Égypte* provided artists and artisans with an extensive visual repertoire, although motifs such as sphinxes, hieroglyphs, and obelisks were reinterpreted with remarkable freedom to adapt them to the European decorative arts.