Enormous Napoleon III Boulle cartel clock signed Henri PICARD, 112 cm

Enormous Louis XV style cartel clock entirely covered in Boulle style marquetry in brass on a red tortoiseshell ground, very fine gilt bronze ornaments featuring the caryatids and the mythological scene of the deities of fate: the Moirai, with Clotho the spinner, Lachesis the allotter and Atropos the inflexible, who cuts the thread of life. All the bronzes are signed by Henri PICARD & RINGO. An element appears to be missing from the hand of the putto at the surmount.

The Paris movement is signed by VINCENTI, awarded a silver medal in 1855; the mechanism works, strikes the hours and half-hours, pendulum + bell + key present, as well as the bronze key allowing the glass covering the dial to be opened at the front.

An exceptional piece, of impressive volume