The Second Empire in France coincided with the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870). The art of this period took its inspiration from the eighteenth century, with a revival of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. Clocks were becoming ever more popular, and workshops more mechanised. Large numbers of movements were mass produced. The cases were more affordable, but of varying quality.

The importance of this garniture resides in the authorship shown by the marks on the case and back plate of the movement. The name and coat of arms enamelled on the dial of the mantel clock tell us the identity of the owner.

The gilded bronze case features the full-length figures of three amorini seated on a rock, two of whom are holding doves. They are supported by a geometric body housing the dial and movement, adorned with leaves, four large branches on the sides, braces and other rococo elements. The pedestal is decorated with large volutes, fleshy leaves, flowers, rocaille and geometric features. A dotted grid has been chiselled on the reverse.

The dial is in white enamel with the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes in Arabic numerals, with intervening minute segments. The hands are of Breguet type. There are two winding holes, one on either side of the hand stem.

The clock has a two-train French round-plated pendule de Paris movement with an eight-day going train. It has an anchor escapement and pendulum and a striking train which sounds the hours and half hours.

On the bottom of the case are engraved the initials 'VP' beneath a crown, suggesting that it was made by bronze artist Victor Paillard, who also signed the back plate of the clock: 'Vr PAILLARD / À PARIS', and the number '245'.

Alexandre Victor Paillard was born on 14 November 1805 in Heudicourt (Eure-Normandy). He began his apprenticeship in By-Thomery in Seine et Marne, Île-de-France, the French region where his sister lived. A Spanish nobleman, the Count of Guzmán, spotted his talent and recommended that he further his studies in Paris. Having demonstrated his skills as a chiseller, he attended the workshop of sculptors Jean-François Denière and Ferdinand Barbedienne. He soon gained a reputation as a skilled bronze founder and worked with sculptors Pradier, Barye and Carrier-Belleuse. In 1830, he opened a factory and artwork business that grew to employ a hundred people. He attended the Paris Salons of 1844 and 1848 and the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Paillard was involved in the decoration of some iconic buildings in the city, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for which he designed and produced several sets consisting of a clock and two lamps. He presented his works at several exhibitions in France and abroad and became a member of the jury of the Paris Expositions of 1855 and 1862. He collaborated with the cabinetmaker Alexandre-Georges Fourdinois and made works for important Russian families, for Honoré de Balzac and for other singular clients. He was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Pieces by the artist are preserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and in the Lambinet Museum in Versailles. He died in Paris on 31 March 1886.

As mentioned, the back plate also bears the stamped seal of Honoré Pons. Pierre-César Honoré Pons was born in Paris in 1773. Shortly thereafter, his parents moved to Grenoble. From a very early age, he showed an interest in science and developed a passion for timekeeping. He studied under the Jesuits in Paris and began his apprenticeship with the clockmaker Antide Janvier. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution, the craftsmen's guilds were broken up. Honoré Pons nonetheless remained in touch with Janvier, who advised him to work with the Lepautes, the best clockmakers of the time. He began working at their workshop in 1798, specialising in precision clockmaking. In 1803, he opened his own workshop on Rue de la Huchette, near Place Saint-Michel, where all the finest clockmakers had their establishments — Berthoud, Breguet, Lepine, etc. He invented several escapements and designed machines for cutting gear teeth and polishing pinions. With Berthoud's help, he presented his work to the Academy of Sciences in January 1804. In 1807, on a commission from the French state, he moved to Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont (Normandy) and set up the first factory manufacturing clock movements. He specialised in the production of 'blancs-roulants', which he sent to Paris to be finished and perfected. These were sold in a shop on the Rue de la Barillerie in Paris, on l'Île de la Cité, and were of a very high quality.

In 1819, he was awarded the Legion of Honour by King Louis Philippe. He promoted the clockmaking industry in the region and was awarded the Gold and Silver Medals of Arts on several occasions. One of them is the 1827 medal alluded to in the stamp on the back plate of the movement of this clock. In 1846, aware that his health was deteriorating, he sold his business to the clockmaker Borromeo Delépine. He died in Paris on 13 January 1851.

There is a major collection of movements signed by Honoré Pons at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and at the Musée de l’Horlogerie in Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont.

Victor Paillard was presumably familiar with the Pons clock factory. He would have purchased several blancs-roulants (or 'ebauches') to adapt to the cases he manufactured. The third stamped mark is that of the clockmaker Rodier, who would have 'finished' the movement made a few years earlier at the Pons factory.

The name enamelled on the dial of the clock —Vicente de Salazar y Hechevarría— identifies the owner of the garniture. He would have acquired the piece at some later date, replacing the original dial with one bearing his name and coat of arms.

Vicente Salazar Hechevarría is documented in the National Historical Archive in Madrid in a file dating from 1839 in which he petitioned to be named a Knight of Santiago. By this date he had already been admitted to the Order of Montesa. He was a native of Santiago in Cuba[1].

A similar clock was auctioned at Bonhams on 13 April 2011.

Each candelabra is decorated with a full-length amorino; the two are in opposing stances to create a pendant (figures intended to be displayed together in a symmetrical arrangement). Swathed in a garland, they hold a thick curving stem that serves as a support for the labrae. Five acanthus branches and a central finial support the leaf-shaped drip pans and bulb-shaped capitals. The central capital is surmounted by a flame—. Birds perch on two of the branches. Foot decorated with rocaille.

[1] Archivo Histórico Nacional, Órdenes Militares, Santiago, exp. 9100 y Órdenes Militares, exp. 8917. I am grateful for the information provided by Dr. D. José María de Francisco Olmos, Professor of Historiographical Sciences and Techniques at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Amelia Aranda Huete