A Directoire Gilt and Patinated Bronze Sculptural Mantel Clock, L'Amerique, the dial signed Lamiral

From Baron & Baroness Leuhusen collection

The enamel dial with Roman numerals signed in black Lamiral à Paris, pierced gilt hands, flat bottomed count wheel bell striking anchor movement with silk suspended pendulum, case surmounted by a seated female figure with enamel eyes, pearl necklace and feather skirt holding a bow and arrow, one foot resting on an alligator and a palm tree behind her, personifying America, patinated oval breakfront base with a relief of garlands to the sides, on toupee feet

With key and pendulum

height 18 ½ in.; width 14 ¼ in.; depth 6 ½ in.
47 cm.; 36.2 cm.; 16.5 cm.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Pierre Kjellberg, L'Encyclopedie de la Pendule Française  (Paris 1997), pp.352-353;
Tardy, French Clocks, Part Two (Paris, 1981), pp.244-245;
H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Vol. 1 (München 1986), pp. 380-381, fig. 5.15.27

Catalogue note

This gilded and patinated bronze cast bronze clock, created by Jean-Simon Deverberie, intertwines the exquisite craftsmanship and political values of late 18^th century France. The clock, created at a time when Europe's imagination was entranced by the possibilities of a ‘New World,’ features a bronze representation of America as a huntress crowned and adorned with feathers. Her eyes, rendered in vivid enamel, pierce through the veil of time, simultaneously expressing beauty and strength associated with a continent mostly unknown to the French public. She is presented in a dynamic and harmonious interaction with nature, taming an enamel-eyed alligator. The alligator’s tail coils around a palm tree, adding movement to the frozen scene, and the base of the sculpture is adorned with gilt bronze hunters and fishermen set against a patinated green bronze.
 
Jean-Simon Deverberie (1764-1824) was a master bronzier and clockmaker during the tumultuous years of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. His works are characterized by intricate detail, exquisite craftsmanship and thematic complexity. This clock embodies Deverberie's artistic legacy, showcasing his skill in creating beautiful pieces that are rich in narrative and cultural significance and reflecting the preoccupations of his contemporaries. It exemplifies Deverberie's mastery of his craft and his contributions to the visual lexicon of the decorative arts.
 
This model is based on a 1799 drawing, now in the collection of the Bibliothèque National, Paris. Illustrated, Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 381, fig. 5.15.28.
A similar model is in the Musée François Duesberg, Mons, Belgium. Illustrated, Pierre Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 353 fig. C. Others with this figural group are illustrated, Kjellberg, op. cit., p. 352, figs A, B.