An Empire Chariot Clock Of Eight Day Duration By Basile-Charles Le Roy

An important Empire gilt bronze and grey veined black marble chariot clock of eight day duration by Basile-Charles Le Roy, signed on the chapter ring Le Roy à Paris, housed in a magnificent case attributed to André-Antoine Ravrio and featuring a very beautiful polychrome dial ring attributed to Henri-François Dubuisson, the pale blue enamel chapter ring with black Roman numerals within a white spandrel, each headed by a gilt diamond and interspersed by red jewels between outward facing gilt foliate scrolls, the dial ring acting as the chariot’s wheel with a skeletonised centre to reveal the movement behind six wheel spokes, with blued steel Breguet style hands for the hours and minutes. The movement with anchor escapement, silk thread suspension, striking on the hour and half hour, with outside count wheel. The case representing ‘Le Char de Venus accompagné du bel Adonis’ portraying Venus seated in the chariot looking over her shoulder toward Adonis, dressed as a shepherd who holds a crook in his right hand and rests his other on Venus’s shoulder, at his feet sits a dog, symbol of fidelity. Venus with a dove, symbol of love, upon her left knee, leaning against a tasselled cushion in her chariot with a winged female to the back and female mask head to the prow and driven by the standing figure of Cupid who holds reins attached to a pair of swans, attributes of Venus, who pull the chariot along. The whole on a shaped rectangular marble plinth mounted at centre with a pair of crowned arrow-pierced hearts above a foliate swag held by a pair of doves, the central mount flanked by scenes of Cupid grinding his arrows on a whetstone and shaping them on an anvil, on eight lion paw feet

Paris, date circa 1807-10
Height 45 cm, width 64 cm, depth 19 cm.