A LARGE FRENCH ORMOLU MANTEL CLOCK

Beurdeley specialized in executing the most luxurious furnishings and decorations to the highest quality and was pre-eminent among the Parisian ébénistes, especially for the refinement of his ormolu. Using only the most magnificent models, he took as his reference articles from the Garde-Meuble National, such as this design by André-Charles Boulle. He exhibited at the major International Exhibitions, including Paris in 1878 and Amsterdam in 1883, at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and was awarded the médaille d'or at the Paris Exposition universelle of 1889. The workshops were closed in 1895, after which a series of public auctions took place between May 1895 and May 1898, amounting to some 2000 lots from the Pavillion du Hanovre and the workshops on the rue d'Autencourt in the 17e arrondissement.

It is presumed the present clock was exhibited in 1880, as illustrated in C. Mestdagh, L'ameublement d'art français: 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, p. 156, and was subsequently sold as lot 42 in the 6-9 May 1895 Vente Beurdeley at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris. Described as 'de style Louis XIV, têtes de béliers, figure applique de nymph...surmontée d'une statuette d'amour', the clock was ultimately bought back by the family (1,360 francs) and sold once again in the 19 October 1897 sale as lot 30.