Lot 139
An Important French Marble and Bronze Mounted Mantel Clock, early 19th c., Paris, silk-thread movement, surmounted by globe incised "America" flanked by symbols of education and exploration; bronze dial ; the case carved with Roman fasces, an "E. Pluribus Unum" banner, and an American eagle clutching arrows and olive branches, raised plinth, carved block feet, height 21 in., width 9 1/2 in., depth 6 in. Provenance: Estate of the esteemed antiquarian Grant Albert Oakes, Sr. Note: This significant presentation clock is wholly inspired by the Great Seal of the United States, the full design printed by James Trenchard in Philadelphia's The Columbian Magazine, September, 1786 This lot relates closely to a number of permanent and temporary monuments erected in major American cities to celebrate American heroic personages, notably Washington's inauguratory tour of 1789 and General Lafayette's visit in 1824 Among the thirteen triumphal arches built in Philadelphia commemorating Lafayette's tour, one was crested with an eagle very similar to that on this clock. Parisian clock makers met an American appetite for citizen-soldier themed objects with a variety of patriotic presentation clocks, most notably Dubuc's "George Washington" clock, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. 31.41.1), also with elements from the Great Seal. Reference: Scott. Temple of Liberty, pp. 9-12 and 108-110; Cooper. Classical Taste in America 1800-1840 p. 239, pl. 192 and Tracy. Classical America 1815-1845 fig. 211
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