A Fine and Large Napoleon III Clock Garniture

Description

A Fine and Large Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Bleu Turquin Marble Three Piece-Clock Garniture.

This fine Napoleon III clock garniture, comprises a mantel clock and a pair of seven-light candelabra.  The clock modelled with a fluted neoclassical vase atop a pedestal base fronted by a ribbon dial with roman numerals. The clock movement concealed inside the pedestal with twin-barrel strike on bell. The candelabra modelled en suite with acanthus-wrapped branches above vase shaped bodies with laurel swag handles.

The dial signed ‘H. Kreitz’.

France, Circa 1870.

The design is quintessentially neoclassical, with decoration derived from Greek and Roman architecture. This impressive garniture dates to Napoleon III’s Second Empire but recalls the neoclassical style as interpreted during the Louis XVI period. The luxuriant taste of that time, as epitomised by the marble clad interiors of the Opéra Garnier, are evident in the scale of this clock set and the lavish use of finely chased gilt-bronze. Bleu Turquin marble, or Dove Grey marble as it is known in English, is mined in the Apuan Alps of Northern Tuscany. Bleu Turquin is a befitting choice for a neoclassical style clock set, because it was a favoured marble of the Louis XVI period, employed spectacularly for marble chimneypieces in the Petit Trianon’s dining room at Versailles and the Marie Antoinette room in the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris. Smaller Louis XVI objects, including clocks, candelabra and vases, using Bleu Turquin marble, are recorded by the bronzemakers François Remond and Pierre Gouthière.

In the mid-19th century during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie there was an artistic revival of the Louis XVI style. Empress Eugénie was fascinated with Louis XVI’s queen, Marie Antoinette. Famously, in 1865, Empress Eugénie acquired, and kept in her apartments at the Tuileries Palace, a writing-table by Adam Weisweiler which had been supplied to Marie-Antoinette circa 1785 (Louvre, OA 5509). The opulent interiors of the period are best evoked by the paintings of Sebastien Charles Giraud (1819-1892) and Eugène Lami (French, 1800 – 1890). Prominent to such interiors is the fireplace surmounted by a ‘garniture de cheminée’. As evidenced by the opulence of the marble and gilt-bronze, the maker of the clock case is paramount and compares with the work of Denière, Charpentier and Picard.

An opulent and fashionable interior during the Second Empire. The Salon of Princess Mathilde Letizia Bonaparte (1820-1904) at her mansion at rue de Courcelles. Painted in 1859 by Sebastien Charles Giraud (1819-1892).

Interestingly, faintly visible in gold lettering, to the dial of the present clock is the name H. Kreitz. This almost certainly refers to Hubertus Kreitz, a German clockmaker who trained in London and Paris and is recorded in Antwerp and Saint Petersburg during the third quarter of the 19th century. The present clock garniture is certainly French made, and therefore the dial inscription refers to Kreitz as retailer.