NAPOLEONIC TRIPTYCH
Chiselled and gilt bronze, working original mechanism.
This important cadeau is formed by a pendulum clock, with a classical-style small temple form decorated on the upper corners by panoplies, by two candlesticks with three candles. The latter, with column structure, are crowned by imperial eagles and made precious by shields shaped like Anciles decorated with female heads surrounded by rays. The importance of this triptych lies, apart from the exquisite crafting – notice, for instance, the studied elegance of the parts treated in burnished gold – in its historical importance: as one may infer from the dedicatory epistle engraved on the pendulum clock, it was in fact donated by emperor Napoleon Bonaparte to a general who had distinguished himself on the battlefield of Wagram, where the troupes of the great Corsican triumphed for the last time, on the 5th and 6th of July 1809 (see Gunther E. Rothenberg, Wagram, l’ultima vittoria di Napoleone, Gorizia, 2007).
Iscriptions: On the pendulum clock, “Donné par l’Empereur/ au Général Muller/ pour sa bravourre/ à la bataille de Wagram/ le 6 Juillet 1809”; on the dial: “Porchez à Paris”.
Paris, around 1809
Watch 52×33,5×20 cm; candlesticks 62x15x15
