Figural mantel clock - Porcelain - 1850-1900

1845.
Modeled, glazed, and gilded porcelain.
Needs adjustment.
It bears seals: “Medaille d’or 1844, FR breveté fournisseur du roi.”
Dimensions: 49 x 30.5 x 14 cm.
The initials F.R. refer to the French porcelain painter Edmé-Alexandre-Francisque Rousseau, active in Paris between 1837 and 1853. According to the Bulletin des lois de la République Française (Vol.29, Paris, 1845), Francisque Rousseau registered in 1844 a patent for the invention of a new gilding process for porcelain. Thanks to this invention, Rousseau was awarded the grand gold medal by the Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale, and in the 1847 General Almanac of Trade, Industry, the Judiciary and Administration, his entry reads: “author of the gilding process, on any colored background fired at mid-fire in the kiln, whose great application, perfect and constant success earned him (various prizes)…”. Gaultier de Claubry praises the “improvements he brought to the decoration of porcelain.” He describes the process by which Rousseau achieved the application of relief on colored backgrounds without altering their brilliance, to obtain a dense gilding. The unprecedented durability of these ornaments seems to have opened new decorative possibilities for a wider range of objects. Rousseau’s “unalterable gilding” would, according to Mr. Claubry, “satisfy all the demands of art and the whims of fashion.” The popularity of his products and their low prices attracted increasing attention, culminating in his appointment as Fournisseur du Roi (Supplier to the King) Louis-Philippe in 1847.