French Louis XVI period ormolu and malachite mantel clock

With a central dial signed 'Degre a Paris', and the case with an urn surmount above griffin scrolls and foliate mounts, this fantastic antique piece is a Louis XVI period mantel clock, richly decorated with gilt-bronze, and encased with a later malachite veneer. 

The clock face is set against a central malachite column with two smaller pedestals to either side. They are linked by chains and the slender bodies of a pair of griffins, likewise chained and joined above by a pair of female busts, on a small vase surmount.

Dating to late eighteenth century France, it is a remarkable demonstration both of the quality of craftsmanship and skill from that time and also the stylistic qualities and aesthetic beauty of the emerging Neoclassical style as it refined the pre-existing Louis XV baroque manner.