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Designed by Louis-Simon Boizot and executed by Pierre Gouthière, this fine clock was presented by the city of Avignon to the marquis de Rochechouart on 29 December 1771. In 1768 he had received back the papal city of Avignon from Pope Clement XIII on behalf of Louis XV and had become its governor. The figure representing the city of Avignon holds a wreath over the Rochechouart coat of arms, while the reclining male figure below represents the river Rhone and the seated female figure its tributary, the Durance.
Gouthière was a French metalworker, the greatest artist of ornamental bronzes of the period of Louis XVI. He produced a vast number of superb cast and chiseled gilt bronzes, executed chiefly for the adornment of fine clocks, East Asian and Sèvres porcelains, and furniture. The Wallace Collection in London includes a red jasper bowl adorned by Gouthière that once belonged to Mme Du Barry, a clock bearing his signature, and many other fine works.
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