Louis XV cartel clock and matching wall bracket, signed "Brodon à Paris"

A magnificent 18th-century cartel clock featuring brown tortoiseshell marquetry and a violin-shaped case, resting on its matching wall bracket. It is richly adorned with Rocaille-style gilt-bronze mounts that blend symmetry and asymmetry, creating an elegant sense of dynamism and perfect balance.
The dial, composed of twelve enamel cartouches, displays the hours in Roman numerals and the minutes on an outer chased-brass rim, indicated by two steel hands. A small lower cartouche bears the signature "Brodon à Paris."
The original movement—also signed "Brodon à Paris"—features a silk-thread suspension and strikes the hours and half-hours.
Nicolas Brodon founded a dynasty of Parisian clockmakers active from the late 17th century through the reign of Louis XVI. He was one of the finest clockmakers of the Louis XIV era and served as a warden of his guild for four years between 1674 and 1682.
The Rocaille gilt-bronze mounts are of exceptional quality. Shell motifs, palmettes, and interlaced friezes decorate the piece, alongside two female mascarons wearing diadems on the wall bracket.
The lower section of the clock features remarkable bronze work depicting Zeus beside Hera on a divine chariot drawn by immortal horses, while the summit shows the infant Zeus holding the horn of the goat Amalthea.
Amalthea was a mythological goat who became the nursemaid to the infant Zeus. Cronus, Zeus's father, fearing the loss of his power and authority, devoured all the children born to his wife, Rhea. When Zeus was born, his mother gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of her son. Deceived, the god swallowed the bundle, and Rhea saved the life of the future ruler of Olympus.
Rhea left the baby on Mount Ida in Crete, where the goat Amalthea had enough milk to nourish Zeus and save him from starvation.

Dimensions
H. 113 cm x W. 44 cm x D. 22 cm
Height of clock case: 83 cm
Height of console: 30 cm

France – Parisian craftsmanship
Signed "Brodon à Paris"
Original silk-thread suspension movement
18th century