XVII. Rouen Cathedral Clock

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 called the (Portail de Calende) of Rouen Cathedral,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 thefirm’s clock cases, n 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. Once assembled, these clocks were retailed by the movement makers .