Remembering the End of Eternity: 19th Century Architectural Mementos of Ancient Ruined Rome, 2021

Page 70

XVII. Rouen Cathedral Clock, Clock Case by Bavozet Freres, Paris 20-1/2”h., c 1835, fire-gilded bronze See Pricing. This remarkably-detailed fire-gilded bronze case represents the south façade of Rouen Cathedral, called the Portail de Calende, rather than the more familiar west front, which because of its proportions and asymmetries may have been thought an unsuitable model. This case was made in Paris by Bavozet Frères et Soeur, and is an exacting miniature. Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Proschel’s 1986 Vergoldete Bronzen pictures a Bavozet Frères’ gilt bronze clock case in the form of Rheims Cathedral, which it dates to 1835. The caption describes an 1837 issue of the Almanach du Commerce, which mentions the firm’s clock cases, in the forms of the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris , Rheims, and Rouen – the model offered here. A leading Paris maker, the firm began business by 1823 and cast these sorts of models until at least 1847. The fire gilding process, with which these models were finished, involved coating a finished bronze casting with an amalgam of mercury and gold, then applying a torch, which caused the mercury to vaporize, leaving behind a thin gilt layer. The airborne mercury, was terrifically toxic, sufficiently so that this method of gilding was banned in France in the 1830’s. Typically, Bavozet cases were purchased by Parisian makers of clock movements, who then assembled and retailed them. 54


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XXII. Cleopatra’s Needles, New York

1min
pages 90-93

XXI. Siegessaule Monument, Berlin

1min
pages 86-87

XX. Seven Souvenir Vendome Columns and Luxor Obelisks

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pages 84-85

XIX. Colonne de Juillet, Luxor Obelisk & Colonne Vendome

1min
pages 76-83

XVII. Rouen Cathedral Clock

1min
pages 70-73

XVIII. Arc de Triomphe

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pages 74-75

XVI. Baptistries, Pisa

1min
pages 68-69

XII. Ruins of the Temple of Vespasian

1min
pages 56-57

XIII. Pantheon, Colosseum, and Temple of Hercules Victor

1min
pages 58-61

XIV. Ruins of the Temple of Vespasian and Temples of Hercules Victor

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pages 62-63

X. Sarcophagi of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus

1min
pages 48-51

IX. Column of Phocas

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pages 46-47

Vespasian, and Castor and Pollux, Trajan’s Column VIII. An Extraordinary Model of the Ruins of the

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pages 40-41

Temple of Castor and Pollux

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pages 42-45

VI. Temples of Hercules Victor (Temples of Vesta VII. Bronze Models of the Temples of Saturn,

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pages 38-39

II Trajan’s Column in Rosso Antico Marble

1min
pages 22-23

IV. Capitoline Wolf

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pages 34-35

V. Temples of the Sybil

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pages 36-37

I. Trajan’s Column in Gilded Bronze

1min
pages 18-21

Who’s Your Nero Now?

2min
page 17
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