A table, similar in general form to the one on which the serre-papiers just described stands, appears on Plate [XXXI.] This is a Regency piece, with its slightly curving legs, hinds’ feet, and or moulu ornaments. The arrangement of scrolls in the centre of the drawer is very characteristic. No. 1 on the same plate gives details of the ornamentation at the sides under the slab.
There were many varieties of desks, cabinets, jewel-cases, etc., designed especially for the boudoir. Some of these have already been described. A “petit-bureau,” however, is shown on Plate [XXXIII.] This is known as “bonheur du jour,” and is made of sycamore, ornamented with chiselled copper appliques and plaques of Sèvres porcelain. The foot is decorated with “leaf-shoe” of gilded metal, also characteristic of the age.
One of the many varieties of card-tables appears on Plate [XXXVI.], No. 10. This has the hollows for counters and candlesticks.
Nothing more impressively decorative in its proper surroundings can be imagined than the tall clock of the Regency and Louis XV. period. In houses of the present day, a tall clock is set up in some corner entirely irrespective of the wall-decoration of the hall, or room. The Regency clock was strictly in keeping with the general decoration, and deserves something better as a background than poor panelling, or vulgar printed paper. It requires a wainscot with solid mouldings, severe and well studied lines, and a high ceiling. A somewhat plain specimen of the period, in carved oak, is shown on Plate [XXXII.]
Two other clocks appear on Plate [XXX.] The full drawing is a pendule d’applique, the frame of which is most ornate. It stands on a console of carved and gilded copper. The detail No. 1 on the same plate is a clock appropriate to stand on a bracket, chimney-piece or table. Its frame consists of bold sweeps with a fine display of scrolls, leaves and shells.
The Duc de Bourgogne owned a very fine clock of black marquetry and copper, with ornaments of bronze in colour. On the top of the case, a satyr was seated on a rock, holding a pipe in his left hand. The base ended in rock-work, brightened with coloured copper ornaments. The dial was of copper, the hours were enamelled, and the clock struck the hour and half hour, and ran fifteen days. It was 2 feet, 11 inches high, and the dimensions of the foot were 9½ inches high by 13 inches wide. Juhel was the maker at Versailles.
Madame Henriette owned a clock in 1746 that was made by Jean-Baptiste Baillon. It was 1 foot high and 6 inches wide. The case was of bronze gilt or moulu and carved with leaves and ornaments. Among the latter were a lion’s head and a Cupid. The feet were of the console form. The dial was enamelled.
Another, by the same maker, is described in 1745 as “a beautiful gilt clock or moulu, the frame of which is enamelled and the hands of bronze gilt, standing on two consoles, ornamented with palms, in the centre of which is a woman’s masque. Mosaic ornaments decorate the sides, as well as two bouquets of flowers. The top is surmounted by a Cupid holding a scythe in his left hand. The foot is gilt bronze of rocaille work, flowers, plumes, two dragons and the head of Boreas. Including the foot, it is 4 feet high and 14 inches wide.”
About this time, two of the King’s daughters bought a clock of bronze gilt and porcelain, 21 inches high, made by Godin. On the front was a shepherd with his dog, and a parrot perched on a gold tree, from which hung several cherries. The base was an irregularly shaped cartouche framed in leaves. The dial was enamelled and surmounted by a little carved Bacchus.
The list of new furniture of Versailles for 1752 mentions a clock “in the form of a lyre of bronze gilt or moulu, the lyre surmounted by a sun and flanked on each side by two terms of women, ending in scrolls that united at the base to form a sort of shield or cartouche of rocaille, with festoons of leaves; the dial enamelled on copper gilt; 2 feet, 10 inches high, and 17 inches wide.”