Mantel Clock Circa 1806 Empire , Gild Bronze, Attributed To J.f Savart

François-Louis Savart (1780-1828) attributed to: Large Empire period clock in chiseled and gilded bronze "the messenger of love". A young woman in antique dress seated transmits a message of love to her beloved by handing a love letter to a carrier pigeon. Her left arm rests on a plaque on which is engraved "This messenger of love makes happy days flow". Her foot rests on an X-shaped stool decorated with a cushion with pompoms. The composition is completed on the left by a pedestal table with 3 winged griffins receiving the necessary writing materials (quill, inkwell, torch). The stool rests on a triangular base with curved sides. The bas-relief represents the carrier pigeon handing the love letter to a seated musician shepherd leaning against a tree. The oval base is decorated with appliques of two sheep on either side of a flower bowl. The sides are decorated with leafy quivers. The clock rests on 6 feet in the shape of a flattened ball. Beautiful and thick original mercury gilding in excellent condition treated in matt and shiny gilding (burnished with agate). This opposition highlights the quality of the chiseling and enhances the patterns. White enamel dial with Roman numerals signed V. LACROIX. Movement with an operating time of 8 days with hour and half-hour chimes on a bell. The suspension is by wire. Empire period circa 1810. H. 51 cm x W. 41 cm x D. 16 cm. « Condition reports: the clock is presented in excellent condition. The movement and the chime work perfectly. a small hair on the dial between the numbers III and IIII. The clock is complete with gong, pendulum and two keys. The subject of the clock: This model is often represented with a portrait in medallion and entitled "the love letter". The clock that we are offering has an engraved plate allowing us to give it its real title "the messenger of love" quite in keeping with the carrier pigeon which is none other than the messenger. V. Lacroix: for Vandercruze LACROIX installed rue Neuve des Petits Champs in Paris in 1806. François-Louis Savart: bronzier (and clock maker?) born June 6, 1780 and died in 1828. Savart produced a variety of luxurious bronze furniture, candelabra, clocks, etc. He was appointed commissioner by the bronze manufacturers, with F. Feuchère, N. Delafontaine and J.F. Denière for an audience with the police prefect on May 6, 1817 to present a petition signed by 88 bronze manufacturers to fight against the counter-moulders. The work led much later to the constitution of the bronze manufacturers' society. Savart was established at 11 rue Philippaux. Buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery, his tomb is decorated with his bust modeled by the sculptor Sylvestre-Joseph Brun. Bibliography: - Pierre Kjelberg, Encyclopédie de la Pendule française, Paris, Editions de l'amateur, 1997. A similar model reproduced p. 397 - - Elke Niehüser chose this model of clock for the cover of her book "French Bronze Clocks" 1999. - see also similar model reproduced in "vergoldete bronzen" by Ottomeyer/proschel volume 1 page 377. References: The 1809 drawing of the original model is kept at the BNF Bibliothèque Nationale de France cabinet des estampes. the model of our clock has variations see last photo A clock identical to our model is in the Yellow Room of the British Embassy in Paris. This clock originally belonged to the Hôtel Borghèse, which later became the British Embassy. - Delorme et Collin de Bocage sale 15/06/2005 lot