Mantel clock
by MARTINCOURT, Étienne, Gilt and patinated bronze, on Egyptian porphyry, height 64 cm
The mantel clock was designed by Augustin Pajou and executed by Martincourt. The figures show Love triumphing over the flight of Time. The hour is indicated by an arrow held by a cupid seated on the base.
During the reign of Louis XIV a precise distinction was drawn between the two trades of the fondeurs-fondants (metal-casters and founders) and the fondeurs-ciseleurs (metal-casters and chasers or engravers), both of which belonged to the same guild. Gilding and silvering were the exclusive domain of a separate guild, that of the doreurs-ciseleurs (gilders and chasers or engravers); it was not until 1776 that these two guilds merged. The fondeurs-fondants confined themselves to the single activity of casting, while the job of designing and creating models for bronze work was the responsibility of the fondeurs-ciseleurs. Most of the latter group were also sculptors, for example Andr�-Charles Boulle, Domenico Cucci, Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain and Pierre-Philippe Thomire, and such members of the Acad�mie Royale de Sculpture et de Peinture or the Acad�mie de Saint-Luc as S�bastien Slodtz and his sons, Fran�ois-Antoine Vass�, Jacques Caffi�ri, Philippe Caffi�ri, �tienne Martincourt and Jean-Louis Prieur. All were experts in chasing and engraving, the skill that gave bronze its value prior to gilding.