Mantel Clock
Artist
Jean-Baptiste Dubuc
(French, 1743 - 1819)
Date1806-1817
MediumCopper alloy with gilding and silvering
DimensionsOverall: 19 × 14 1/2 inches (48.26 × 36.83 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-109.1-3
On View
Not on viewGallery Location
- 211
Collections
DescriptionCommemorative clock depicting George Washington. With silvered dial contained in a rectangular plinth surmounted by a gilt eagle with the motto "E Pluribus unum" flanked on the right by a standing figure of George Washington in military costume with inscription on swag, rectangular base with figural commemorative panel on the front of the base that depicts Washington as Cincinnatus, the famed citizen-statesman of Rome in the fifth century, B.C. The whole raised on engine turned bun feet.Gallery LabelFeaturing a nobly posed George Washington, this French clock was made for the American market to memorialize the president after his death in 1799. The saying below the dial derives from the words of Major General Henry Lee: "First in War, first in Peace, first in the hearts of his Countrymen," and the eagle above the dial recalls the Great Seal of the United States with the motto "E pluribus unum." The figure of Washington was inspired by John Trumbull's 1792 painting Washington Before the Battle of Trenton, which was widely distributed as a print in France and available to artists such as Dubuc. The base of the clock depicts Washington resigning his position as commander in chief of the American army to become the president.
Purchased by Israel Sack, Inc., New York, at Selections from the private Collection of the Late Charles Hitchcock Tyler, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries INC., New York, January 24-28, 1933, lot 1086;
Purchased from Israel Sack, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.
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