George Washington: A unique example of the French gilt bronze Memorial Clock
with the All-Seeing Eye from the Great Seal of the United States, the case by Jean-Baptiste Dubuc, Paris, circa 1810
19 in. [43 cm] high.
Portraying George Washington, holding a Scroll of Laws, in a pose based on the 1792 painting, General George Washington at the Battle of Trenton by John Trumbull. The spyglass held in the right hand of the original was replaced by a scroll of laws, as a fitting attribute for Washington in the role of "Father of his Country."
Washington's likeness is probably taken from a 1783 bust length mezzotint portrait by the English engraver, Valentine Green, based on an earlier Trumbull painting
The clock has an eight day movement that strikes the hours and half hours on a bell. The enamel dial is mounted within a bezel in an adjacent plinth above a drapery swag inscribed: "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, published as a pamphlet in early 1800. It reads in full:
"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life: Pious, just, humane, temperate and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting."
The plinth supports the pyramid and All-Seeing Eye from the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States. 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 relief depicting Washington's as Cincinnatus, the legendary citizen soldier of the Roman Republic.
The maker of the case is a Parisian bronze founder (bronzier), Jean-Baptiste DuBuc (b. 1743) who before the French Revolution was maître-horloger to the Compte D'Artois, brother of Louis XVI. From 1775 until 1798, he is also recorded as a member of several Masonic Lodges in Paris, suggesting that he, like George Washington, was a prominent Freemason. In 1804, Jean-Baptiste, now called DuBuc L’ainé, a pendulier ( i.e. a maker of bronze clock cases) worked in the rue du Grenier Sainte-Lazare. From 1806-1817 he is found in the Rue Michel-le-Compte, which was, in fact, the same street after it crossed rue Bambourg. Jean-Baptiste would have styled himself "l’ainé" (senior) presumably after his son set up shop as Dubuc le jeune (junior), two blocks away, in the rue des Gravilliers, 1800-1817. |
