Wall clock (pendule d'alcôve)
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
01/01/1760-01/01/1860
This French wall clock, styled as a pendule d'alcôve in the Louis XIV fashion, features a gilt-brass lyre-shaped case mounted on a foliate bracket terminating in an acanthus drop. The upper section is topped by an acanthus floral finial and flanked by two rams' heads bearing floral festoons. Below the dial, the case is ornamented with a cast female mask surrounded by scrollwork, while the surrounding field is filled with Boulle marquetry of gilt-brass and blue-stained horn.
The brass dial measures 14 cm in diameter and features an engraved outer minute ring with Arabic numerals at five-minute intervals, enclosing individual inset white enamel plaques displaying blue Roman numerals. Steel hands indicate the time. The movement features rectangular plates signed 'Mynuel AParis' by clockmaker Louis Mynuel, partially cut away at the bottom corners. It includes an anchor-type escapement, a central going barrel, a Brocot-type regulator stamped 'BROCOT PROPTE', and a ting-tang repeating train designed to strike the hour and quarters on bells. Overall, the clock measures 67.8 cm high, 28.5 cm wide, and 14 cm deep, dating between 1760 and 1860 from Paris.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Designed for a bed alcove, this type of clock allowed an owner to determine the time in the dark via a repeater mechanism activated by pulling cords that hung through side holes. The movement was made by Louis Mynuel, appointed Royal Clockmaker to Louis XIV in 1705, while the case is attributed to André-Charles Boulle, though the two components may represent a later marriage. The clock entered the collection in 1865 from Mr Whitehead as part of the Duke Clemence inheritance.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Gilt-brass and boulle marquetry gilt- brass and blue-stained horn, enamelled dial
- Dimensions
- Height: 67.8 cm; Width: 28.5 cm; Depth: 14 cm; Diameter (brass dial): 14 cm
Technical characteristics
- Inscriptions
- Date: Text: Research required; Latest: Research required; Earliest: Research required; Note: Research required; Type: Research required; Medium: Research required; Method: Research required; Script: Research required; Content: Mynuel AParis; Language: Research required; Position: Research required; Inscriber: Name: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Association: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Description: Research required; Translation: Made in Paris by Mynuel; Interpretation: Research required; Transliteration: Research required
- Maker recorded
- Mynuel, Louis
- Place recorded
- Paris
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- Wall clock
- Museum object number
- 130-1865
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.