"Dolphin Clock Late Lxvi Period"
DOLPHIN CLOCK FROM THE LATE LOUIS XVI PERIOD BY Julien BELIARD LATE 18TH CENTURY In chiseled and gilded bronze, the dial inscribed in an urn flanked by dolphins forming handles, resting on a base with foliage motifs, the dial signed JULIEN BELIARD, resting on a white marble plinth. The dolphins refer to the triumph of Bacchus over the Tyrrhenian pirates, who after taking him prisoner on one of their ships, threw themselves into the sea in terror before the god transformed into a lion. The men then transformed into dolphins. The upper part with the dolphins of our clock is similar to a clock illustrated in La Pendule française dans le monde (Tardy, 2nd part, p. 41).