Love Conquers Time

BOUBON, Palais Royal, Empire-period ormolu mantel clock, "Love conquers Time".
Ormolu clock with the enamel dial signed Boubon/Palais Royal, depicting a ship with two zephyrs, both blowing through a seashell; the ship boarded by a seating Chronos holding his scythe and hourglass, and a young winged boy, Love, rowing the boat with a large oar.
It rests on an angle-cut base with falling water symbolising the Sea, decorated with trident, oar and reeds tied together with a knot, two seashells on the sides, resting on four lion paw feet.
It is to be noted that our model is different from other known models as it is the only one with two zephyrs, fore and aft. Others have either two swan heads or a swan head fore and a zephyr aft.
The crocodile –(hog?) heads on either side of the boat’s hull are particularly remarkable by their quality of execution, and so are the little seawater waves spreading across the base.
Twin-barrel circular movement with 4 pillars, the right winder for the time, with recoil anchor escapement and silk-suspended pendulum; the left winder for the countwheel strike every half hour, on a silvered bell. Enamel dial with signature and Roman numerals for the hours, the minute and hour hands in blued steel, Bréguet style. Autonomy 2 weeks.

Dimensions

Height 21ʺ (53cm), Width 20ʺ (51cm), Depth 5ʺ (13cm)

Maker

BOUBON was recorded at the Palais du Tribunat in 1806, then at the Palais Royal in the Galerie de Pierre between 1810 and 1820. Then at the Galerie Colbert in 1830. The Palais Royal was one of the best addresses for high quality Clockmaking purchasing and manufacture in Paris between 1780 and 1850. Boubon was established there between 1806 and 1830.

Bibliography

TARDY, dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris 1972 ;
Bernard CHEVALLIER, « La mesure du temps dans les collections du musée de Malmaison », cat. exp. 29 May 1991- 15 September 1991 ;
P.KJELLBERG Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen-Age au XXe siècle, Paris 1997 ;
Marie-France DUPUY-BAYLET Pendules du mobilier national 1800-1870, éditions Faton, June 2006.