A French gilted bronze Louis Seize Mantel clock 1780

Charles Bertrand

StoneGoldWhite marbleGilt
Currently unavailable via Gallerease

• About the artwork
  A French gilted bronze Louis Seize Mantel clock on white marble basement
  Signed on the dial:
  
  “Charles Bertrand Horlogier d’Academie, Rue Montmartre a Paris”
• About the artist
  Joseph-Charles-Paul Bertrand, also called Charles Betrand, was a French clockmaker who was born in Nettancourt 1746, he died in Paris in 1789. He was one of the most important Parisian horologists during the reign of Louis XVI. After studying under Eustache-François Houblin, he became a master on 20 February 1772, and established a workshop in the rue Montmartre. Thereafter, he became a clockmaker of the Royal Academy of Sciences. He was specialized in skeleton clocks and clocks with complications. He collaborated with the best craftsmen of the period, including Knab specializing in cases, Barbichon, Coteau and Borel specializing in dials, and Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain and François Vion specializing in bronzes. He received commissions from financiers and aristocrats including Marquise de Lambertye and Harenc de Presle. For the latter he made a very fine vase-shaped clock that was sold in April 1795. Today, Bertrand’s clocks can be found in important international museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée national des Techniques in Paris and the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore.