Explore the abstract of this artwork, Barometer Clock.
Barometer Clock (Boulle) by André-Charles Boulle is a late seventeenth-century French clock created out of ebony, turtle shell, brass, gilt bronze, and enamel. The clock case is decorated on all sides and was intended as either a centerpiece or for display on a mantel in front of a mirror. The centerpiece of the clock is a relief of "Father Time Carrying Off Truth."This late seventeenth-century clock also functions as a barometer; the "two doors on the rear of the clock open to reveal a glass tube containing mercury and a float to which thread is attached." The semicircular barometer dial indicates five weather conditions from one extreme, beaucoup de pluye (rainy), to the other, beau fixe (fine).Boulle, who gave his name to the type of veneering on this clock, is listed in the French Archives Nationales as a cabinet maker, maker of marquetry, and gilder and chaser of bronzes. The clock movement design is by either Isaac Thuret or his son Jacques Thuret. The dial and backplate of the movement are both signed "I. Thuret...", the character I and J being interchangeable during the period.
André-Charles Boulle