Detail View: The AMICA Library: Clock with Vestals

AMICA ID: 
MIA_.82.25
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name: 
Thomire, Pierre Phillipe
Creator Nationality: 
European; French
Creator Role: 
manufacturer
Creator Dates/Places: 
1751 - 1843
Creator Name-CRT: 
attributed to Pierre Phillipe Thomire
Creator Name: 
Sauvageot
Creator Nationality: 
European; French
Creator Role: 
manufacturer of clockworks
Creator Name-CRT: 
Sauvageot
Title: 
Clock with Vestals
View: 
Front
Creation Date: 
about 1785
Creation Start Date: 
1783
Creation End Date: 
1787
Materials and Techniques: 
marble, bronze, gilt
Classification Term: 
mantel clock
Dimensions: 
H.20-1/2 x W.25-1/2 x D.7 in.
Component Measured: 
overall
Measurement Unit: 
in
AMICA Contributor: 
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 
82.25
Credit Line: 
Gift of the Groves Foundation
Inscriptions: 
INSCRIPTION
Rights: 
Context: 

The form of this clock, with two vestals carrying an altar upon a stretcher, was inspired by an engraving by the painter Hubert Robert, published in 1771-73. This collection of Robert's engravings was dedicated to the queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, and an almost identical clock, made by Thomire, was made for the queen's bathroom in the Tuileries in Paris. Fifteen clocks of this design are known today, some with bronze or gilt bronze vestals and others gilt bronze or Sèvres porcelain plaques on the altars.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MIA_.999c.tif