Belle Époque period ormolu and porcelain mantel clock in Moorish style

Belle Époque period ormolu and porcelain mantel clock in Moorish style
French, Late 19th Century
Height 48cm, width 30cm, depth 15cm
 
This beautiful clock, formed from gilt bronze and porcelain, is designed and decorated in a discernibly Moorish style. The clock is supported by a flat shaped gilt bronze base, the base supporting four gilt bronze columns that support the gilt bronze clock drum. The cylindrical drum contains a circular dial, the dial of porcelain and inscribed with Roman numerals.
 
The gilt bronze throughout is cast and chased with geometrical motifs—particularly evident on the front of the four vertical columns. These motifs are distinctively Moorish in scheme, the lattice-type geometrical sequences recalling Islamic decorative design. Most beautifully, the porcelain throughout—inset to the front of the base, the clock dial, and the three domes that surmount the body—is painted as if to imitate champlevé enamel. This trompe l’oeil touch lends the clock a real charm.
 
Though French, this clock was produced for the Turkish—at the time the Ottoman—market.