Case:

The matching Empire-style shield shaped patinated cases are adorned with extremely well cast ormolu mounts which include laurel branches, winged figures, cast engine-turned bezels and are each topped by burnished globes.

Dial:

The white porcelain clock dial has black lettering, Breguet style hands and gold dots for the five-minute markers. The barometer dial is also white porcelain with black lettering and indicates barometric pressure between 27 and 29.

Movement:

The time and strike eight-day movement has a silk-thread suspension and countwheel striking on a bell.

The case designs are clearly from the empire period and the quality is equivalent to that found on pieces of the empire period, but we feel the pair was made in the mid-nineteenth century. Such pieces were often manufactured by firms such as Henry Dasson to supply an increasing population of wealthy clientele whose tastes harkened back to the classical periods. The great demand for classically influenced designs combined with the rarity of certain exceptional pieces presented an opportunity for the prominent bronzers. They copied pieces that were universally admired. The difference between these exceptional copies and normal Victorian pieces is that these extraordinary pieces were made exactly as the originals including costly expense of fire gilding the bronze.

The original model is pictured in Tardy, Volume II, page 342.

Size:

Height: 16in. each.
Width: 10.5in. each.