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Mantel clock
Possibly by: Jean Caillouet (French, born in 1733, active in Paris about 1765–1810)
French (Paris)
about 1790
Object Place: Europe, France
Medium/Technique
Marble, gilded and patinated bronze, enameled metal, glass
Dimensions
73 cm (28 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Swan Collection—Bequest of Miss Elizabeth Howard Bartol
Accession Number27.522
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsTools and equipment – Timekeeping
Furniture – Clocks
Furniture – Clocks
DescriptionRound clock dial in a cylinder set between two marble columns mounted in gilt bronze, faced with Egyptian caryatids with feet resting on urns, and floral designs. The base rests on six feet and its face is mounted with three rectangular gilt bronze panels chased in relief with putti at play. The columns surmounted by bronze winged sphinxes and the clock is surmounted with a white marble urn with finial of an eagle perched on a ball. Sunburst pendulum. Dial marked "Caillouet á Paris".
Marks
Movement signed by Caillouet, Paris
Provenance1794-1796, probably acquired in Paris by James Swan, Boston, MA [see note 1]; after 1796, with his wife Hepzibah Clark Swan (d. 1825), Dorchester, MA; 1825, after her death, by inheritance to their daughter, Mrs. John C. Howard; by inheritance to her granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth Howard Bartol; 1927, bequeathed by Miss Elizabeth Howard Bartol. (Accession date: September 8, 1927)
NOTES:
[1] James Swan was a merchant established in Paris, and was appointed an official agent for the purchase of supplies in the United States in 1794 by the French Government. His partner was Johann-Caspar Schweizer, a Swiss. According to Howard Rice, the French Government placed at his disposal luxury goods to be exchanged in America for food supplies and war materials. The Swan and Schweizer agency shipped these articles to the United States between 1794-1795, where much of it was sold. However, this piece was among those that Swan kept for his personal use. See H. Rice "James Swan, Agent of the French Republic 1794-1796" The New England Quarterly, Vol. X, No. 3, Sept. 1937, p. 464-486.
NOTES:
[1] James Swan was a merchant established in Paris, and was appointed an official agent for the purchase of supplies in the United States in 1794 by the French Government. His partner was Johann-Caspar Schweizer, a Swiss. According to Howard Rice, the French Government placed at his disposal luxury goods to be exchanged in America for food supplies and war materials. The Swan and Schweizer agency shipped these articles to the United States between 1794-1795, where much of it was sold. However, this piece was among those that Swan kept for his personal use. See H. Rice "James Swan, Agent of the French Republic 1794-1796" The New England Quarterly, Vol. X, No. 3, Sept. 1937, p. 464-486.