A LARGE FRENCH GILTWOOD CARTEL CLOCK AND COMPANION BAROMETER

The central putto figures the present clock and barometer do not appear to be a copy of an 18th-century model but rather inspired by several. With his hands held aloft and his bifurcating tail, the present example perhaps most closely recalls an engraving by Jean-François Forty in his Oeuvres de Sculpture en Bronze, 1780. Examples of the designs were understood to never have been executed in the 18th century, however almost certainly influenced those in 19th as the volume later became a part of the collection of the renowned bronzier Denière (see H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et.al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 288, fig. 4.16.2.). Also compare a wall-light modelled as a putto flanked by scrolling horns of plenty, circa 1775, formerly from the AK Petit Collection, 1912 (op. cit., fig. 4.16.5).