Rare and fascinating nineteenth-century bronze mantel clock, probably French. Ornate Gothic-style design features a well-imagined winged dragon surmounting a cylindrical clock with a round face and black Roman numerals painted on shield-shaped ivory plaques. The dragon is pierced though the shoulder just above the wing by a bronze sword, which is actually a removable letter opener, and roars in agony as blood gushes from the wound. Atop the elaborately-decorated base at right near the clock, a bronze cannon with shooting flames aims outward. A flame motif is used throughout the piece, especially in the wonderful, Gothic-style decoration of the pierced-bronze screen, which is secured to the base on either side by bronze supports decorated with flaming urns. A coat-of-arms, a crown, chirping birds, and architectural and floral motifs complete the decoration.
Dimensions: 21-1/4"H x 16-1/4"W x 5-3/4"D
Condition: Consistent with age. On bronze body, some dust in recesses, some old scratching and staining to bronze plate screwed to back; on clock face, shield-shaped appliqués painted with the Roman numerals IIII and VIII are broken, although the numerals themselves are fully readable and intact. Clock mechanism seems to be intact, but is untested and missing winding key.