A Louis XV astronomical calendar mantel clock by Pierre Millot

A very rare and highly important Louis XV gilt bronze astronomical calendar mantel clock of fourteen day duration by the esteemed royal clockmaker Pierre Millot, signed on the case either side below the main dial Inv.t & Fecit/ Millot à Paris and housed in a magnificent case attributed to the eminent bronzier Robert Osmond, the white enamel dial with outer minute chapter ring with Arabic numerals and inner hour ring with Roman numerals and a very fine pair of pierced gilt brass hands for the hours and minutes, with a moon phase aperture at 12 o’clock marked above with the 29 ½ days of the lunar month, with a scale below for the regulation of the sonnerie train marked ‘Quantiemes / Des Mois’ with the days of the month indicated by a fine gilt brass pointer, below which is an aperture to indicate the date and names of the months, with various other apertures below to indicate the names of the days of the week, the specific year (with calendar for a thousand years), the solar cycle marked ‘Cicle Solaire’, the golden number marked ‘Nombre d’Or’ and two others marked ‘Lettres des Dimanche’ and ‘Épacte’ with each of the indications corresponding to the ecclesiastical calendar so as to determine Easter and other moveable religious festivals. The main dial also with a winding hole at 11 o’clock for regulating the age of the moon and another winding hole at 12 o’clock for advance and retard. The clock movement with anchor escapement and silk thread suspension. The silvered engraved astronomical dial below the main dial, studded with paste brilliants to symbolise the stars and planets and with one fixed and two moveable shaped shutters below that move according to the length of the night, with a central domed sphere with a sunburst hand and engraved with the world’s main domains, marked 20/40 up to 360 degrees and reading clockwise as follows: 48 Paris / 20. 50 Cracouie/ 40. 38 Tauris / 60. 27 Gomron / 80. 39 Irkin / 100. 14 Siam / 120. 39 Pekin / 140. 31 Ie dujapon / 160. 21 Lamira / 180. 63 Detroit du nord/ 200. 69 Cercle polaire/ 220. 39 C[ercle] des neiges / 240. 19 C[ercle] decorinte /260. 23 Veracrus / 280. 12 Lima / 300. 43 Ie Royal / 320. 25 Mer du nord 340. 27 Ie de fert / 360. The circular glazed door opening to reveal the dial bezel border engraved with the symbols and names of the signs of the zodiac, with apertures to the upper left and right of the latter dial indicating sunrise and sunset respectively marked ‘hres mtes / Lever du Soleil’ and ‘hres mtes / Coucher du Soleil’. The magnificent chiselled and chased symmetrically scrolled-shaped case surmounted by Diana, the moon goddess, holding a radiating sun medallion and wearing a tunic and sandals and seated leaning upon a pedestal amid flowers, foliage and a quiver of arrows beside her, with foliate scrolls around the dials terminated by scrolled feet upon a splayed rectangular plinth mounted by stiff leaves below an oak leaf and acorn border flanked either side by recumbent roaring lions on a pierced Vitruvian scrolled base with a laurel leaf border on scrolled feet

Paris, date circa 1760-70
Height 75 cm, width 48 cm, depth 33 cm.