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Influences and Images: Gilded Bronze Clock

Influences and Images: Gilded Bronze Clock

Artist
Jean-Baptiste Dubuc of Paris
Date of Work
ca. 1806-1817
Medium
bronze
Credit
The White House

Influences and Images: Gilded Bronze Clock

This gilded bronze mantel clock by Jean-Baptiste Dubuc of Paris prominently displays an eagle and President George Washington. The eagle, likely inspired by the Great Seal of the United States, bears a shield and holds an olive branch in one talon and a group of arrows in the other. It stands balanced on a globe and faces to the left, toward Washington and the talon containing the arrows. Under the dial is an inscription from General Henry Lee's funeral oration for Washington: "Washington./ First in War./ First in Peace./ First in the Hearts of His Countrymen." The scene in relief on the base depicts Washington resigning his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.

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