A Directoire turquoise blue enamel, gilt bronze and griotte marble skeleton clock
circa 1795–1799
The dial signed Bourdier
Height: 46 cm. (18 in.) Width: 27.8 cm. (11 in.) Depth: 12.4 cm. (4. ¾ in.)
Jean-Simon Bourdier, Maître Horloger on 22 September 1787
The signed enamel dial has Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numbers for the quarter hours, with Breguet blued steel hands. The circular movement has a pinwheel escapement and silk thread suspension. The clock chimes the hours and half hours by means of a count-wheel mounted on the back plate.
The circular dial is surmounted by a palmette and trailing sheaves of wheat. It is supported by an oval panel with the enamelled signature flanked by seated mermen, on an arched support and a griotte marble rectangular plinth base.
Comparative literature:
An identical turquoise blue enamel clock is reproduced on the cover of the Partridge Summer Exhibition catalogue, 1990, no. 40.