THE CASE ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE OR CLAUDE GALLE, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) or Claude Galle (1759-1815) have traditionally been attributed as the designers of this urn clock; various decorative elements appear on items executed by both of these celebrated bronziers. An engraving of this model is in the Recueil de La Mésangère, Collection de Meubles et objects de goût of 1807. A clock of related design with enamel dial was sold Christie's London, 22 September 2011, lot 16, £15,000. A similar clock was supplied by Lepaute to the Château de Fontainebleau for the 'appartement doré no. 1, cour ovale', and is recorded as '...une pendule vase à vase de forme Médicis, corps en bronze, richement décoré de divers ornements (...) 800' (J.-P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 81, no. 47). Two similar clocks with movements signed by Folin and Devillaine are in the Museé François-Duesberg, Mons, Belgium (P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 327, fig. C).