Dome table clock in Longwy enamel on faience.

To depict these two swallows, harbingers of spring, in their decor of flowers on a yellow ground, this unique piece showcases the exclusive technique of Longwy enameling, named after the town in northeastern France famous for this type of production.

The artist first laid out the design on the different bisque elements, drawing the black outline or cerne characteristic of this technique. He then filled the motifs with a palette of 16 opaque enamel colors, creating a slight relief. Last, he refined the details, using a brush and 7 pigment shades to emphasise volume and light and shade. Each enameled plate required 5 firings at temperatures ranging downwards from 1020°C (firing the clay-based bisque) to 800°C (firing the black outline) and 750°C to 745°C (firing the enamel). An hour circle adorned with a finely crackled surface presents black enameled Breguet numerals.

This piece is powered by the caliber 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement rewound by an electric motor.