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A clock on a stand, with elaborate decorations in gold, topped with a seated woman in a robe

A mantel clock is mounted on a bronze base which is trimmed with various gold gilded decorations. At the top is a gilded figure of a seated woman, facing right and turning her head back to the left, as a dog sits at her side looking up at her. From the pedestal on which she sits, a fountain in the shape of a grotesque face pours water into a basin, and under her left arm, she holds a pole with wool bound to the end of it. Gold columns on either side and below, a floral gilded motif surround the clock as well.

Gallery Text

Vaillant made the internal mechanism for this clock and signed the face of its dial. The case, manufactured after another artist’s design, features one of the Moirai (Fates) from Greek mythology: Clotho, who spins the thread of life. This neoclassical depiction of the deity, shown crossing her legs and turning to the right, derives from Italian baroque examples. The natural elements in the rest of the iconography unite the theme of time with the cycle of life. A clock with this identical case, with a movement by a different clockmaker, once graced the bedroom of Napoleon’s son, the king of Rome, and is currently housed in the Élysée Palace in Paris. A variant of this case by another artist was also produced in blue-and-white ceramic, with gilded bronze details.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2011.73
People
Louis-Jacques Vaillant, French (d. c. 1820)
Case by Unidentified Artist
Title
Mantel Clock with the Figure of Clotho
Classification
Timepieces
Work Type
clock
Date
c. 1810
Places
Creation Place: Europe, France, Paris
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/336333

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2220, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, Rococo and Neoclassicism in the Eighteenth Century
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Patinated bronze with gilded mounts
Dimensions
43.2 x 29.2 x 12.7 cm (17 x 11 1/2 x 5 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: on dial: Vaillant à Paris

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Daniel P. S. Paul, Miami Florida, (by 1980 - 2010) bequest; to Harvard Art Museums 2010.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Dan Paul
Accession Year
2011
Object Number
2011.73
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Mantel clock crowned by a figure of Clotho seated on a fountain with a dog by her side.

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu