A Large French Sèvres Biscuit-Porcelain “Pendule à Cercles Tournants” with the Three Graces

A MAGNIFICENT LARGE SÈVRES BISCUIT-PORCELAIN “PENDULE À CERCLES TOURNANTS” WITH THE THREE GRACES

After the model attributed to Étienne-Maurice Falconet, circa 1770; this example France, third quarter of the 19th century

Height: 26½ inches (67.3 cm)

The present clock follows the celebrated marble “Pendule à cadran tournant aux trois Grâces,” circa 1770, attributed to Étienne-Maurice Falconet and preserved in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (OA 6525).

An exceptionally large and beautifully preserved French biscuit-porcelain “Pendule à Cercles Tournants” depicting the Three Graces, after the celebrated model attributed to Étienne-Maurice Falconet, circa 1770, this example third quarter of the nineteenth century.

Executed in finely modeled white biscuit porcelain, the three classically draped Graces stand around a fluted column and support an elaborate neoclassical urn containing the clock movement. The figures are joined by cascading floral garlands, while the urn is enriched with molded classical ornament and surmounted by a domed cover and finial. The clock is fitted with rotating annular hour and minute rings, the characteristic cercles tournants, allowing the time to be read against a fixed index.

The sculptural group rises from a substantial rectangular pedestal decorated to the front with a finely molded relief of playful putti amid scrolling foliage, above a gilt-bronze architectural plinth.

The composition derives from the celebrated white-marble clock of circa 1770 preserved in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, inventory OA 6525, attributed to Étienne-Maurice Falconet. The model became one of the most successful and recognizable French decorative clock designs of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, appearing in gilt bronze, marble and porcelain versions.

At 26½ inches in height, the present example is of imposing scale and belongs to the larger format of this celebrated model. Its remarkably complete and well-preserved condition, including the porcelain figures, floral garlands, urn, dial rings and relief-decorated pedestal, is particularly noteworthy.