Offered by Catel Antiquités
A white marble and gilt bronze obelisk shaped clock. The clock is decorated with beaded lines. Its dial with Arabic numerals is supported by sphinges joined by a drapery. The dial is surmounted by two bacchantes holding a globe. The clock is decorated with an armillary sphere.
The armillary sphere is an instrument formerly used in astronomy to model the celestial sphere. It was used to show the apparent motion of the stars, the Sun and the ecliptic around the Earth. The reference system is then the geocentric system also known as the "Ptolemy system". In other words, it is a model in which we consider the Earth as the center of the Universe.
The dial signed "Joseph Revel à Paris", watchmaker received "maître" in 1775.
A clock in the same vein signed "Joseph Revel" is at the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris.
France.
18th century.
Bibliography :
Dictionnaire des Horlogers de Tardy
Kjelberg, Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age à nos jours
