GUGLIELMO MEURON & COMP. (active since 1770); CARUS [aka CARRUS] (active since 1735), Symbolic Clock

Gilded bronze, enamel, white marble; height 32 cm.
France, Paris, 4th quarter of the 18th century.
Original clock in the shape of a pot with a sunflower flower, with a snake crawling along the stem. Both the sunflower and the snake - are Masonic symbols, as in Christian symbolism denoting Light, knowledge - attacked by Evil. The dial of the clock surrounded by sunflower petals - covered with blue enamel on a guilloche background with a motif of waves. Hour and minute divisions - Arabic. At the bottom of the dial the inscription: "Meuron et Comp.". On the mechanism the signature of the watchmaker: "Carus Paris". Pot and base in light marble.
Guglielmo Meuron, an Italian-born watchmaker, developed his career in Paris alongside the famous master Abraham-Louis Breguet. Having become independent, he began producing luxury clocks commissioned by the wealthy elite. He opened studios and stores in Paris, as well as in Switzerland in Neuchâtel, Le Chaux-de-Fonds and Geneva.