Gilt bronze mantel clock in form of Roman ruin

Gilt bronze mantel clock in form of Roman ruin
French, 19th Century
Height 55cm, width 24cm, depth 14cm
 
This wonderful mantel clock is designed in the image of an ancient Roman ruin. The clock is clearly inspired by the kind of prints, paintings and drawings of dilapidated Roman buildings, which were brought back from Italy by Grand Tourists in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries.
 
The gilt bronze (ormolu) clock features a series of arches, supported on four free-standing fluted Doric columns. These columns stand in a staggered line, with one pair projecting slightly in front of the other. Between two columns beneath the central arch, there is a circular white enamel clock dial, which features black Roman Numerals and an hour and minute hand in the shape of a snake. The dial is set within a bezel, which is cast as an oak leaf wreath. A pendulum, with a classical mask terminal, hangs in the space below the dial. The four columns stand on a podium, the centre of which steps forward. The Roman building is overgrown with ivy, which climbs up the podium and wraps around the columns.
 
‘Roblin/ A Paris’ is stamped onto the clock. Roblin was an important clock-making company, which flourished in France in the late 19th Century.