A NAPOLEON III GILT AND SILVERED-BRONZE MANTEL CLOCK

Lerolle exhibited ornamental clocks, garnitures, chandeliers and candelabras, predominantly gilt-bronze or silvered, at most of the international exhibitions held during the second half of the 19th century, London 1851, New York 1853, Paris 1855, where the firm obtained a médaille de 1re classe, London 1862 and Paris 1867 and 1878. The firm was fêted by critics for their luxury decorations by 'first-class artists, while modelling, moulding, chiselling and finish rank among the bronze-masters of Paris' (The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition, 1878, p. 153). In 1862, Lerolle participated in the Exposition des Beaux Arts Appliqués à l'Industrie and the same year were manufacturing bronzes for the Maison S.A.I. le Prince Napoléon, and the l'Hôtel de la Commission Française. At least eighty percent of their production was exported.