Lot 1011 | Paris | Important pendulum clock "Jason Et La Toison D'Or"

IMPORTANT PENDULUM CLOCK "JASON ET LA TOISON D'OR".

Paris.
Date: 1st third 19th century.
Maker/Designer: The model after a design by Pierre-Victor Ledure.
Technique: Cast bronze, chased and with matt and polished gilding.
Description: Rectangular base on volute feet. Mounted on the front is a bronze relief with instruments
of war, oak leaves and laurel wreath. The scene displayed on top, is the exact moment when Jason
reaches for the golden fleece, standing above the sleeping dragon. The fleece hangs in an oak trunk.
The stem also supports the drapery in which the dial, decorated with a rosette in relief, is embedded.
Dial with Roman numerals. Eight-day movement with cylinder escapement. Hour and half-hour strike on
a bell.
Measurement: 20x49x67cm.

Literature:
- Niehüser, Elke: Die Französische Bronzeuhr. Munich 1997. For this type compare p.64, fig.91.
- Ottomeyer, Hans and Pröschel, Peter: Vergoldete Bronzen vol.1. Munich 1986. For this type compare p.351, fig.5.7.6.

Jason is the brother of the king of the city of Iolkos. The latter is overthrown and murdered by Pelias, the half-brother of the two princes, whereupon Jason has to flee. After becoming a man, Jason travels to Iolkos to lay claim to the throne. Pelias has grown old in the meantime and harbours a fervent desire to find the Golden Fleece, the skin of the flying and talking golden ram Chrysomeles, and to bring it to Iolkos. He agrees to give the throne to Jason if he will get him the fleece. Together with the "Argonauts", Greece's most famous heroes, including for example Hercules, Orpheus and Heracles, he sets sail for the sacred grove of the god Ares, where the fleece is guarded by a mighty dragon that never sleeps. With the help of her magic, Medea, the daughter of King Aietes of Colchis, succeeds in putting the dragon to sleep, whereupon Jason is able to steal the fleece.