Clock, “La Lecture” (“Reading”)
Laurent Guiard (1723–1788) and Pierre Musson
Paris, between 1754 and 1768
Patinated bronze and gilt bronze, wood
This clock used to stand in Diderot’s study, after Marie-Thérèse Geoffrin (1699–1777) presented it to him in 1768. Diderot refers to it in his Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre (Regrets on Parting with my Old Dressing-Gown). In the same book, he also describes how Geoffrin, a famous salonnière, decorated his home, her way to provide for him.