Mantel clock 1775 - 1850
Biscuit porcelain, enamel, gilt metal | 43.0 x 26.0 x 11.8 cm (whole object) | RCIN 30331
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A mantel clock of blue and white biscuit porcelain. The blue and white porcelain case is surmounted by a draped figure of Venus seated on a cushion playing with cupid. The octagonal moulded clockcase is supported by rounded sides applied with swags; all on a rectangular marble base with incurved corners and an applied gilt panel decorated with a group of cupids playing musical instruments; on gilt ball feet.
The French eight day locking plate striking mechanism has a going barrel movement and recoil escapement; a white enamel dial with the 12 hours and quarters represented in arabic numerals and a pair of finely pierced gilt hands.Provenance
Jean Népomucène Hermann Nast (1754–1817) was born in Austria and worked at Versailles before starting his own factory, the manufacture de Nast, in 1783. The factory supplied French nobility and later the government of the French Directory and Napoleon I. Following his death in Paris in 1817 his sons continued to operate the factory trading as Nast Frères. They continued to use the models and moulds created by their father until the sale of the factory in 1835. Given by Her Majesty Queen Mary to the Royal Collection in May 1929
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Creator(s)
(clockmaker (case))(porcelain manufacturer)(clockmaker (movement)) -
Medium and techniques
Biscuit porcelain, enamel, gilt metal
Measurements
43.0 x 26.0 x 11.8 cm (whole object)
Object type(s)