gilt and chased bronze clock Venus on her chariot drawn by a pair of doves. She is joined in the clouds by her son, Cupid, holding a helmet. The white enamel dial with Arabic numerals and openwork hands is signed "Levol à Paris". The clock plate is signed Planchon . The figures rest on an oval white marble base decorated with gilt bronze garlands of flowers and ribbons in the Louis XVI style. Two urns carved in marble, decorated with flowers and surmounted by flames, are also present. The clock is supported by four small gilt bronze feet. Its mechanism is signed "Planchon Paris".

Mathieu Planchon (1842-1921) was a watchmaker, historian, and horological theorist. He settled in Paris, at the Palais-Royal, in the 1870s. He also worked with Jean E. Robert-Houdin, a renowned watchmaker and automaton maker, before becoming a famous illusionist. He studied the systems of "Mystery Clocks," and his work was followed by Maurice Couet, who created these famous mystery clocks for the renowned jeweler Cartier. Planchon also reconstructed the clock donated by Viollet-le-Duc, as well as the monumental clock by Jean Fusoris for Bourges Cathedral, in his Dictionary of Furniture.

Napoleon III period, Circa: 1870

Condition report: In good overall condition. Some wear to the gilding and marble. The movement has been cleaned, serviced, and is in working order.