An Empire Fireplace Clock By H.robert-watchmaker De La Reine, Paris, Date Circa 1820-1830

A superb Empire clock in gilt and patinated bronze lasting eight days, signed on the white enamel dial H.Robert-Horloger a la Reine. The dial with Roman numerals and Breguet style hands in gilded steel for the hours and minutes. The lever escapement movement, silk thread suspension, striking on a single bell, with external count wheel. The extremely thin case depicting the standing figure of Urania, muse of astronomy holding a pen in her left hand which points to a starry globe adorned with the signs of the zodiac around its circumference, the globe resting on the backs of four putti on a plinth, containing the dial with a wrapped serpent Paris, date circa 1820-30 Height 73 cm, width 50 cm, depth 22 cm. In addition to the prestigious locations above, clocks of this model can be found in Warsaw Castle and the Bayerischen Nationalmuseum in Munich. The Parisian watchmaker Bailly (d. after 1818) was one of the finest of his time and as such earned the title of LL Watchmaker. MM. II. And RR (Clockmaker to Their Imperial and Royal Majesties). Working in the rue de Richelieu, he was with Lepaute one of the main suppliers of the Garde-Meuble. Bailly, who retired in 1818, was responsible for maintaining the clocks of Compiègne and the Trianons and is known to have used the cases of the greatest Parisian bronziers including Pierre-Philippe Thomire and Claude Galle as well as Ferdinand Schwerdfeger who provided him with a case for a regulator surmounted by a starry globe ringed with the zodiac on four sphinxes, close to the current model (illustrated in Jean-Dominique Augarde, "Les Ouvriers du Temps", 1996, p. 275, pl. 214 ). In addition to the Museums of the Château de Compiègne and Fontainebleau as well as the Grand Trianon, other Versailles clocks by Bailly can be seen in Paris at the Garde-Meuble National and at the Louvre, Marmottan and La Légion d'Honneur museums.