A LARGE FRENCH ORMOLU MANTEL CLOCK: 'PENDULE À LA GLOIRE DU ROI'

With rays bursting forth from a portrait medallion of Louis XIV, this spectacular clock is based on an 18th century model dedicated to the memory of the Sun King. Created in 1754, the original was a collaboration between fondeur Edmé-Jean Gallien, gilder Louis-François Gobert and clockmaker Jean Martinot and was initially placed in Louis XV's bedroom at the Château de Fontainebleau. It was later moved to the Château de Compiègne and then to the Château de Versailles, where it is now on view in the cabinet du Conseil (VMB 8706). The model was widely admired and copied in the 19th century and a version slightly larger than the present clock by Charles Crozatier and Henri Picard is displayed in the grand salon of the Napoleon III apartments at the Louvre. A comparable example by Graux-Marly sold A Private Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 31 ($85,000).