Directoire Bronze Figural Clock with Angel and Dog
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- French Directoire Style - The Directoire style is a furniture design style that was popular in France during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, during the Directoire period (1795-1799) of the French Revolution. It is characterized by simplicity, elegance, and a neoclassical influence. The style is characterized by straight lines, geometric shapes, and minimal ornamentation, often with a whitewashed finish. It is inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. Furniture pieces in the Directoire style include tables, chairs, desks, and sofas, which feature clean, simple lines and a lack of ornamentation, typically in mahogany or other dark woods.
- Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.
The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.
It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture. - Ormolu - Ormolu was popular with French craftsmen in the 18th and 19th century for ornamental fittings for furniture, clocks and other decorative items. True ormolu is gilt bronze, that is bronze that has been coated with gold using a mercury amalgam. Due to the health risks associated with using mercury, this method of creating ormolu was discontinued in France in the 1830s. A substitute was developed consisting of about 75% copper and 25% zinc, however it was inferior to the bronze version. It was often lacquered to prevent it tarnishing.
- Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
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