Mantel clock with hour-and-a-half striking and date displayi - Lot 96

Mantel clock with hour-and-a-half striking and date displaying 'Les adieux d'Hector et d'Andromaque', dial signed 'Minet à Paris', circa 1810. White enamel dial, Roman numerals for the hours, Arabic numerals for the quarter hours and date, gilt brass hands, blued steel date hand; round movement, count wheel on the outside, silk thread suspension, name of a former restorer, Jean Charlier, scratched on the plate; base in dark green veined marble (accidents), the return decorated with a lion's claw frieze; appliques on the face showing, in the center, Hector, in the presence of Hélène, trying to convince Paris to take up arms in defense of his homeland. On the left, the figure of a young lady with a dog symbolizes fidelity, while another on the right with two doves snogging represents love. The clock movement and dial are set below in an octagonal frame, with the figure of Hector, on the left, embracing Andromache, who hands him their son Astyanax. 10000/12000 H. ; W. ; D. Several examples of this clock are known (Niehuser 208 N° 267), including an almost identical one by Lepaute, but with a wooden base and no date, in the Mobilier Nationale (Dupuy-Baylet 110-12, N° 47). The scene depicted is described by Homer (Iliad, Canto VI, 369-502) and evoked by Racine in Andromache. A moment of heroic sentimentality, it was perfectly in keeping with the ideology of the Empire. Nicolas Minet was born in Nancy on May 4, 1757, and was apprenticed to Pierre Haultemanière in Paris for eight years in July 1769. According to the almanacs, he worked at 28, rue Jacob until 1830. Another mantel clock by him, based on a model by Thomire, is in the Ministère des Affaires Étrangers. Bibliography Marie-France Dupuy-Baylet, Pendules du Mobilier Nationa, 1800-1870, 2006. Elke Niehüser, French Bronze Clocks, 1999. We thank Anthony Turner for examining the movement.