Wall Clock

At least three specialized craftsmen collaborated to produce this elaborate gilt bronze wall clock. The clockmaker Julien Le Roy, who signed the clock face and the movement, made the interior movement mechanisms. The bronze caster Jacques Caffieri cast and gilded the ornate case, which would have been the most costly part to produce. In this rare example, he engraved his signature on a cartouche below the dial. Antoine-Nicolas Martinière, the enameler, painted the numbers on the clock face and fired the whole dial. He inscribed the back of it with his name and the date 1747 . A detailed inventory of Jacques Caffieri's workshop made in 1747 describes a clock similar to this one, decorated with the figures of Minerva and Cupid holding a scythe. Minerva, the patron of learning and the arts, wears a helmet and armor and perches on a cloud on the top of the dial. The winged figure of Cupid, probably once holding a scythe in his hand, symbolizes Love conquering Time.