During the reign of Napoleon III, the use of ornaments to decorate mantelpieces was very fashionable.  Attempts were made to bring prices down, and important ornament designs were also frequently found in the French bronze catalogues published by Barbedienne and Susse. There was a wide variety to suit every taste and budget. Clock movements were usually in bronze or marble bases – preferably black, red or brown – and groups of eclectic figures were placed on them. The figures were always made out of bluing bronze and taken from mythology, allegory and history. Copies and imitations of antique clocks were to be found alongside original designs by leading bronze makers.

The case of this table clock depicts a round-bodied figure of Moses holding the Tablets of the Law. It is a copy of the sculpture by Michelangelo for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome. It is made out of bluing and patina-finished bronze. It stands on a black marble pedestal with the clock face and movement. The curved pedestal is decorated with full-relief male heads on the sides. The clock face is on the front and is surrounded by a framework of scrolls on a bronze skin of a cat. The head and two claws can be seen in the upper part and the other two in the lower part.

The base of the figure of Moses is signed by Barbedienne and hallmarked. The black clock face has the hours in gilded Roman numerals. Gilded spearhead hands. Two keyholes. Pivot with the letters R A to adjust the gain and the loss. The face is signed. Although the letters are very faded, it seems to read ‘Barbedienne’. Glass cover to protect the face.

French movement with round plates in the Paris style. Two wheel trains. The wheel train with a spring drive keeps the watch running for eight days. Pin-pallet escapement and pendulum. Hour and half-hour chiming mechanism using a countwheel and bell. Number on back plate: 6205.

Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1882) was a leading French bronze smith and smelter who was born in Saint-Martin-de-Fresnay (Normandy) on 6 August 1810. He worked for leading sculptors. In 1839 he went into partnership with Achille Collas, who had been awarded a patent to produce sculptures on a smaller scale the previous year. They opened a bronze sculpture factory in Paris and ended up employing over three hundred workers. They then began to manufacture sculptures on a smaller scale made out of alabaster, bronze, marble and steatite. Their intention was to manufacture in series in order to mainstream art and make it more accessible to all. The most outstanding small-scale figures include Michelangelo’s Moises, of which several copies were made. Another version was auctioned as Lot 404 at Sotheby’s in New York on 1 February. They also manufactured furniture and silver systems in an eclectic style that ranged from the Neo-Renaissance to Louis 16^th. Barbedienne died in Paris on 21 March 1892.

Amelia Aranda Huete