File:George Washington French Empire mantel clock.jpg

Summary

A French Empire-style mantel clock made for the American market by the bronzier Jean-Baptiste Dubuc, portraying George Wahington in his full-dress uniform of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Examples of these clocks can be admired in the Green Room of the White House, Edgewater, Homewood Museum, New York's City Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Robert William Roper House, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Winterthur Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, etc. These timekeepers are very rare and highly sought after by collectors and museums alike, commanding high prices when they become available.

There were different variations and two sizes available, the one in the picture is the bigger version. The figure pose was based on the 1792 painting; “General George Washington at Trenton” by John Trumbull. The spyglass held in the right hand of the original painting was replaced in the bronze figure by a scroll of laws, as a fitting attribute for Washington in the role of "Father of his Country." His left hand leans against the sword-hilt of his battle broadsword. The American eagle with a shield on his chest and spread wings sitting on a gun ball is a heraldic symbol, in fact it is a representation of the "Great Seal of the United States". From the eagles perspective it holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon, (referring to the 13 original states), and an olive branch in its right talon, together symbolizing that the United States of America has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war."

The enamel dial is mounted within a bezel in an adjacent plinth above a drapery swag inscribed in english: "Washington, First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of his Countrymen". This well known quotation comes from Major-General Henry Lee’s Funeral Oration on the Death of General Washington. The side of the plinth bears a Trophy of Arms formed from a bow and arrows, a club and the feathered headdress that are the attributes of the personification of America. The base of the clock is mounted with a rectangular tableau in relief representing Washington resigning his commission to return to civilian life. This act recalled the virtuous example of Roman general Cincinnatus, affirming the principle of civilian control of the military.

Licensing

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