Graux-Marly Frères Pendule à la gloire du roi Paris, 1870

Tardy, French Clocks the World Over, Part One, p. 279; H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Vol. I, p. 130, fig. 2.8.21; and P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, p. 303, fig. 335, for illustrations of the 18th century model by Gallien.

D. Alcouffe et al., Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, p. 296-297, for a 19th century model by Charles Crozatier, in Napoléon III's apartments in the Louvre.

The original clock was made expressly for the Cabinet du Conseil at Versailles in 1756 and celebrates the Glory of France commemorating the previous reign of The Sun King. Its full title was La France gouvernée par la sagesse et couronnée par la Victoire qui accorde la protection aux arts. The original movement was made by Jean Martinot, the casting and possibly the chiseling by Edmé-Jean Gallien, with gilding by Gobert.

The original clock, on loan from Versailles, is shown in a line engraving in the Exposition rétrospective de L'union centrale des arts décoratifs, Paris 1882, De Champeau & Others, 'Les arts du bois,' pub. Quantin, 1883, p. 18.

In the 1870s, Jules Graux-Marly operated a small foundry known as Graux-Marly Frères. The firm exhibited at the 1878 Paris Exhibition and was well respected for their figurative sculptures as well as decorative ornaments.

Although castings by Graux-Marly are relatively rare on the market, other versions of the present lot are recorded, for example:  Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Estate of Lillian Rojtman Berkman, January 28, 2005, lot 896, $38,400 and Christie's, New York, April 20, 2005, lot 311, $48,000.