Wall Clock: Minerva and the Gallic Cock

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1745-1749

DimensionsH (with spear): 71 in. (180.3 cm); W: 31 1/8 in. (79.1 cm)

MediumGilt-bronze, enamelled dial

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1962.15

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 26, Rotunda

Label TextA cartel clock is an elaborate wall clock in which the clock case and bracket are joined into a single sculptural unit, designed to complement the Rococo interior design of the room it would decorate. This clock is topped by a triumphant Minerva, Greek goddess of wisdom, the arts, and battle. She is accompanied by the Gallic cock, emblem of France, as a collective symbol of French courage and victory. An assortment of arms, armor, flags, and musical instruments intertwine with C-scrolls and stylized seashells in an asymmetrical, flowing arrangement. The clock is said to have come from the new city hall in Rouen, Normandy that was built in the mid-18th century and designed by the fashionable architect Antoine-Mathieu Le Carpentier. He also designed furniture and other interior decorations and may have designed this clock.Published References"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, Oct. to Dec. 1962", Art Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1, Spring 1963, p. 84, repr. p. 90.
"Treasures for Toledo", Toledo Museum of Art News, New Series, vol. 7, no. 4, Winter 1964, repr. p. 97(also published as a handbook).

Watson, F.J.B., "Eighteenth-century paintings and decorative arts", Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 464, repr., fig. 12, p. 459.
Comparative ReferencesSee also Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. XV, no. 10, October 1920, pp. 236, 237, fig. 3.
See also Verlet, P. "A Note on the Poincon of the Crowned "C"," Apollo, July 1937, p.22f.

See also Watson, F.J.B., Wallace Collection Catalogue, Furniture, London, 1956, no. F 92, p.53, Cartel clock with case by Charles Cressent (1685-1768).

See also Baillie, G.H., et al, ed., Britten's Old Clocks and Watches, (7th ed), London, 1956, p. 328, Information on Barat.