Superb Louis XV style gilded bronze pendulum, hallmarked Cadeco Paris. Diameter of the dial: 9.50 cm. 8 days movement with chime every hour and 1/2 hour. It stands on 8 feet, the dial is enamelled in white with Roman and Arabic numerals on the hands. The movement is original and perfectly working. Ideal for a Louis XV decoration or for collectors of pretty clocks. - The gilded bronze experienced an extraordinary success during the 18th century which originated during the reign of Louis XIV, with the creation of a foundry for Domenico Cucci at the Gobelins manufacture. Bronze allowed craftsmen to show an extensive fantasy and adapt the new rocaille style in the reign of Louis XV. The first period of the reign of Louis XV was marked by the increase of ornaments leading to the Rococo or Rocaille style. The term 'rocaille' find its origins in the mineral world and designates little stones, rocks and pieces of glass with an irregular shape. Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695-1750) was the first one to use the term 'rocaille' to patterns inspired by irregular or asymmetric shell shapes. Once introduced in interior decoration, the shell knew an exceptional success. The success of shells and minerals was part of a more general interest for natural history. The 'rocaille' and shells are the basic elements of decoration but we also see the presence of elements derived from the vegetal, floral and mineral worlds, sometimes stylized, like foliage and scrolls in the friezes, sometimes realistic such as branches of laurel or oaks, they testify of nature’s preponderance as a model.