2011.73: Mantel Clock with the Figure of Clotho
TimepiecesA mantel clock is mounted on a bronze base which is trimmed with various gold gilded decorations. At the top is a gilded figure of a seated woman, facing right and turning her head back to the left, as a dog sits at her side looking up at her. From the pedestal on which she sits, a fountain in the shape of a grotesque face pours water into a basin, and under her left arm, she holds a pole with wool bound to the end of it. Gold columns on either side and below, a floral gilded motif surround the clock as well.
Gallery Text
Vaillant made the internal mechanism for this clock and signed the face of its dial. The case, manufactured after another artist’s design, features one of the Moirai (Fates) from Greek mythology: Clotho, who spins the thread of life. This neoclassical depiction of the deity, shown crossing her legs and turning to the right, derives from Italian baroque examples. The natural elements in the rest of the iconography unite the theme of time with the cycle of life. A clock with this identical case, with a movement by a different clockmaker, once graced the bedroom of Napoleon’s son, the king of Rome, and is currently housed in the Élysée Palace in Paris. A variant of this case by another artist was also produced in blue-and-white ceramic, with gilded bronze details.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2011.73
- People
-
Louis-Jacques Vaillant, French (d. c. 1820)
Case by Unidentified Artist
- Title
- Mantel Clock with the Figure of Clotho
- Classification
- Timepieces
- Work Type
- clock
- Date
- c. 1810
- Places
- Creation Place: Europe, France, Paris
- Culture
- French
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/336333
Location
- Location
-
Level 2, Room 2220, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, Rococo and Neoclassicism in the Eighteenth Century
View this object's location on our interactive map
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Patinated bronze with gilded mounts
- Dimensions
- 43.2 x 29.2 x 12.7 cm (17 x 11 1/2 x 5 in.)
- Inscriptions and Marks
-
- inscription: on dial: Vaillant à Paris
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Daniel P. S. Paul, Miami Florida, (by 1980 - 2010) bequest; to Harvard Art Museums 2010.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Dan Paul
- Accession Year
- 2011
- Object Number
- 2011.73
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
Descriptions
- Description
- Mantel clock crowned by a figure of Clotho seated on a fountain with a dog by her side.
Exhibition History
- Recent Acquisitions, Part II: Building the Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/19/2012 - 09/29/2012
- 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
Subjects and Contexts
- Google Art Project
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu