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Getty Museum acquires French decorative arts from Collection of Dr. Horace Wood Brock

Mantel Clock, about 1789

Mantel Clock, about 1789. Clock case attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire (French, 1751 – 1843, master 1772); clock movement by Charles-Guillaume Manière (French, died 1812, master 1778). Patinated bronze; gilt bronze; enameled metal; glass; white marble; griotte marble. 55.2 × 64.5 × 19.1 cm (21 3/4 × 25 3/8 × 7 1/2 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Partial gift of Dr. Horace W. Brock in honor of Pascal Izarn.

Getty Museum acquires French decorative arts The J. Paul Getty Museum announced the acquisition of an important collection of eighteenth-century French decorative arts assembled by Dr. Horace Wood (Woody) Brock, one of the world’s foremost economists. The acquisition is a combined gift and purchase.]]>

January 13th, 2016, source: J. Paul Getty Museum

The thirty-one works of art include seven clocks; six gilt-bronze mounted porcelain, feldspar and porphyry objects; five works in gilt bronze including a pair of candelabra, two sets of firedogs, and two sets of decorative vases; a carved gilt-wood console table; a porcelain inkstand; and a leather portrait medallion of Louis XIV. The collection substantially enhances the Getty Museum’s extraordinary holdings of French decorative arts, renowned as one of the most important outside France.

“These exquisite objects constitute the most significant acquisition of French decorative arts made by the Museum in many years,” said Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “Produced in the sophisticated artistic culture of eighteenth-century Paris, these extraordinary works epitomize the skill and artistry that made the French court and aristocratic life the epitome of elegant extravagance, and the envy of collectors throughout Europe. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Brock for his generosity in enriching our collection with this important gift and purchase.”

Dr. Brock has been collecting French and English decorative arts and Old Master drawings for the last thirty years. He began lending decorative arts objects to the Getty Museum in 1997 and made several long-term loans through 2008. Since being lent to the Getty, these objects have been on continuous display in the European decorative arts galleries in the South Pavilion Plaza Level at the Getty Center.

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Getty Museum acquires French decorative arts from Collection of Dr. Horace Wood Brock