Henri HOUDEBINE (19th century) Mantelpiece with Chronos, master of Time, in chased and gilded bronze The Louis XIV style clock is surmounted by a figure of Chronos on a sphere and holding his scythe. The round dial is chiseled with an acanthus crown with twelve enamel plates on an amatized background. The amortization centered on a bearded man's head. It rests on four sphinxes ended by scrolls. The terrace with four skids chiselled with a leafy frieze signed "Hi Houdebine. Bronzier. Paris 1877 ". The pair of candelabras with nine arms of light decorated with draperies, female masks and acanthus leaves is finished by three sphinges on scrolls. They rest on a base with concave edges and three runners. Clock : Height. : 89 - Width : 46 - Depth : 33 cm (tiny chip on one side glass, a crack on the other) Candelabra : Height : 91 cm Height : 91 cm For a comparable model : Me Osenat, sale of 26 October 2014, lot n° 196. Henri Houdebine established himself as a maker of clocks and decorative bronzes in Paris in 1945. He participated in the majority of exhibitions in the second half of the 19th century. Noted for the quality of his castings and chiselling, his creations were awarded a gold medal at the 1876 Exhibition of the Central Union of Decorative Arts. He received the highest distinction at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. Often wrongly associated with Cronos, the Titan who devours his children, Chronos is the primordial god of time. The confusion is probably at the origin of Baudelaire's verse: "O pain! O pain! Time eats life".