La Compagnie des Marbres et Onyx d'Algérie, Gilt bronze, pol - Lot 216

La Compagnie des Marbres et Onyx d'Algérie, Gilt bronze, polychrome champlevé enamel and Algerian onyx clock. Paris, Napoleon III period. The Roman numerals on the dial are later. Dimensions: 42 x 18 x 18 cm . Founded by Alphonse Pallu, Société des Marbres et Onyx d'Algérie acquired quarrying rights in the province of Oran in 1858, and set up its own art foundry in 1861. Recognized and used since Antiquity, Algerian onyx was rediscovered around 1848 by Jean Baptiste Del Monte, a marble-maker from Carrara, during an archaeological dig. Shortly after its acquisition by Pallu in 1858, a factory was set up in Paris. In 1863, the Company opened a store at 24 Boulevard des Italiens, where a "permanent exhibition" featured columns, sheaths, fireplaces, jardinières, bowls, vases, clocks, candelabras and more. We went to visit the stores opened by Société Pallu & Cie on Boulevard des Italiens, and we're not exaggerating when we say that we were literally amazed by what we saw. It's not possible to describe in a few lines the thousands of objects made from onyx, which combine the richness of the material with the finish of the most perfect art; but we saw columns and torchères that no palace in the world possesses, because these pieces are unique. When you're at MM. Pallu's, you feel like you're in an enchanted palace; gold, enamel and onyx are combined with such good taste and science that you don't know which of these three materials best brings out the others. "Le Monde illustré, n°349, December 19, 1863. The Compagnie des Marbres et Onyx d'Algérie collaborated with Charles Cordier, but also supplied other artists such as Carrier-Belleuse and Louis-Ernest Barrias for numerous decorative pieces, such as a monumental set he presented at the Exposition Universelle in 1867. Expert : Stéphane Pepe