French Regency Mantel Clock

French
Ca. 1820-1830
Fire gilt bronze, enamel clock face dial
Over-all in fine condition, with clockworks overhauled by Jim Katzin, December 2025.
Depicting Alexander the Great lounging on a Klismos chair, holding a tablet in one hand and a ball in the other. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian from the late imperial age (330-390 AD), the young Alexander used to hold a ball in his hand while studying in order not to doze off: in fact, if the hand relaxed, the object would have fallen on a copper cup, thus waking him up.