Mantel clock from the collection of the Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel: problems of study and attribution

Abstract

The article presents the findings of a study of bronze mantel clocks from the collection of the Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Clocks, named after M.A. Vrubel. On the basis of an artistic and stylistic analysis, the work is attributed to the field of decorative and applied art. The composition of the clock case, which depicts the theme of unrequited and unhappy love, has been subjected to detailed analysis. The subjects of the bronze reliefs decorating the pedestal and stele of the clock, as well as the bronze figures embodying the images of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho and her lover Phaon, were subjected to analysis and determined. The artistic works that inspired the composition depicted in the clock are revealed. French mantel clocks of different models with similar reliefs and figures from museum collections, private collections and those offered for sale at auctions are established. A comparative analysis of the level and quality of manufacture of the Omsk clock and similar samples permitted the conclusion that the specimen from the Siberian museum was most likely produced in Russia at one of the country's capital cities' bronze foundries. The study of the clock mechanism enabled the establishment of its French provenance, while the inscription on the movement and strike spring facilitated the clarification of the dating: the mechanism was manufactured in 1828, with the clock itself dating to the late 1820s (and therefore not earlier than 1828). The examination of archival materials has not yet yielded sufficient evidence to ascertain the ownership of the object. However, the available evidence suggests that this sophisticated and esteemed bronze ornament was a prominent feature of the interior of a Saint Petersburg mansion or palace belonging to the Russian aristocracy until 1917.