A Restauration ormolu 'Evening Prayer' mantel clock by Griebel of Paris

A Restauration ormolu 'Evening Prayer' mantel clock by Griebel of Paris, after a design by Jean-Andre Reiche, the eight day brass cased drum movement with an outside countwheel and striking on a bell, the circular white enamel dial with Roman numerals and signed 'GRIEBEL A PARIS', the classical case decorated with swans, drapes and terms, the main scene depicting a mother, the Duchess de Berry, nursing her son, the future Duke of Bordeaux, with his sister Louise praying infront of them, the base with applied swags of fruit and leaves flanked by portrait rondels, 41cm high, 30.7cm wide.

Provenance: The Collection of Sir Jeremy Lever.

On 13th February 1820 the Duke of Berry was stabbed leaving the opera house in Paris and he died the next day. He was assassinated by a Bonapartist opposed to the monarchy. Seven months after his death his wife gave birth to their fourth child, Henri, who in the view of the Legisitimists was heir to the throne of France. The birth of the boy in 1820 was the reason for the creation of this clock, designed by Jean-Andre Reiche, one of the most important bronziers of the Empire period.

See Elke Niehuser, French Bronze Clocks, p.165.