Lot Essay
This charming sunflower clock was probably originally conceived with an encrier base to function as a clock and as an inkwell. A watercolour of a virtually identical timepiece in C. Plante and R. Garnier, Designs for gilt bronze objects from the French restoration 1814-1830, London 2002, p. 68, pl. 52. A very similar example still with it's encrier base sold at Christie's, London, 5 July 2007, lot 1 (£13,200); another nearly identical example, also lacking it's encrier base, sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 24-35 June, lot 317 (9,375 euro).
This clock is in the same naturalistic fashion to a clock with a hortensia (or 'hydrangea'), symbolic of Hortense de Beauharnais, sold Christie's, London, 7 December 2006, lot 4.
This clock is in the same naturalistic fashion to a clock with a hortensia (or 'hydrangea'), symbolic of Hortense de Beauharnais, sold Christie's, London, 7 December 2006, lot 4.