IN THE MUSEUMS
Large clock in chiselled gilded bronze – LOUIS XVI era
Face signed “Charles Le Roy à Paris”
Engraved with “Ch Le Roy Paris”
By Etienne-Augustin Le Roy
From a design by Etienne Martincourt
Provenance: Garde-Meuble de la Couronne (Château des Tuileries), Garde-Meuble National
Kraemer Gallery
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
The face of this clock is embedded in a vase-shaped design. On one side, a woman holds a celestial globe – she represents astronomy – while on the other, another woman holds a map – she represents geography.
The enamel face is signed “Charles Le Roy à Paris”.
In the 18th century, also known as the century of the Enlightenment, many discoveries were made and the fine arts, music and literature underwent important changes. The Enlightenment saw the rise of a Manichean worldview that implied a stark divide between the learned and the uneducated; this mindset change could be felt in social life as well as in the arts.
