Style Orientalism / Ref.14816

Ferdinand BARBEDIENNE (1810-1892) and Louis-CONSTANT SÉVIN (1821-1888) Orientalist Clock set in Cloisonné

This clock set was made in the 19th Century by the Maison Barbedienne and is signed 'F.BARBEDIENNE' several times.
The pair of candelabra and the clock were made of cloisonné enamel and gilt bronze. The polychrome cloisonné are with foliages on a blue background. The gilt bronze forms the rest of the set and is also embellished with stylized plants.

The CLOCK is topped by a cup with two handles. The base is rectangular, adorned on each angles with crowned bearded men faces in high relief. It rests on four lion paws. The face clock indicates the hours in Roman numerals on white enamel pastilles.
On each sides, two CANDELABRAS in the form of oil lamp with three arms from with are hanging chains. The tripod base rest on lion paws.

The Maison Barbedienne (1834-1954) was founded by Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892) in the 19th century. Thanks to technical improvements of the industrial revolution, the bronze was widely used for artistic and decorative purpose. The quality of the production of the Maison Barbedienne allowed it to be very active and experienced a significant growth.
Barbedienne's production is of great quality, not only for bronze, but also for the combination of severals technics, such as cloisonné enamel, like in our clock set. This virtuosity gave them a lot of medals at the Universal Exhibitions. Our clock set is very similar to a model presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1862, as we can see in one of Jules Maciet's photographies. This company was one of the most successful ones and many artists were asking them to achieve in bronze their plaster models. Its production is influenced by the contemporary fashions such as Orientalism, like in this clock set.