A Empire ormolu skeleton clock- Early 19th Circa 1805

Skeleton clock of pyramidal signed by Noséda in Marseille representing an allegory of fortune. Pyramidal shape in chased bronze, gilded with mercury treated in burnished and amati, provided with a blue enamel dial with a clear view called "skeleton" revealing the mechanism. The group is composed of two distinct parts, based on the theme of fortune. The upper part is composed of a wheel of fortune; it is topped by an eagle with spread wings perched on clouds, on either side of which also emerge clouds. The whole rests on a base decorated with a mythological scene of allegory to fortune. The scene presents Fortune, almighty goddess, daughter of Jupiter, dispenser of goods and evils, pleasures and pains, wealth and poverty. She is represented as winged and half-naked, with her horn of plenty in her hand. One of her feet remains in the air, while the other is leaning on a rapidly turning wheel. The goddess giving her oracles answering the supplicants' requests, the latter is represented on either side of the fortune, one knee on the ground, hands stretched out towards Mount Olympus and sleeping receiving wealth, prosperity and fertility. The whole rests on four spherical feet guilloche. The blue enamel dial is highlighted on the periphery with a pearl stripe and a cross-hatched border revealing the mechanism. The hours are spun in golden Roman numerals with decimal division, the minutes are represented by bars on the enamel. Symbols, all the symbols, inherent to the Fortune are gathered; the eagle symbolizes here the success, the force and the power. The clouds represent the bliss, ease and transience. The spinning wheel symbolizes opportunities to be seized. It can bring good fortune both financially and in other ways. But it remains centered on what is essential, but it also represents the center of the personality and the art of pursuing what is most important to oneself. Noséda, a master watchmaker in Marseille during the Empire, is referenced in the Tardy dictionary of French watchmakers on page 490. This clock is endowed with a very beautiful gilding with mercury with brilliant part on the smooth surfaces and amatie for the chiseled parts. Its blue enamelled dial bears the signature NOSEDA A MARSEILLE on its base. The clock rests on a polylobed base in gilded wood with the leaf in burnished and amati with the hatched and guilloche reparure. Mechanism with wire suspension, ringing of the hours and half-hour. Pendulum, bell and keys are present. Revised by the clockmaker of its former owner. Dimensions: Clock Height 34cm - Width 31.5cm - Depth 14cm. Base Height 5.7cm - Width 36cm - Depth 17.5cm. Total height 39.7cm.