45 mantel191 A rare vase clock in hard-paste porcelain with flat rotating (cercles tournant) enamel dials, the blue ground decorated with a gold patern, the body with an oval cartouche on each face containing a polychrome landscape framed by a gold band. Each side decorated with a woman's head framed by floral garlands of Biscuit in relief. The lid of the vase is embellished with acanthus leaves in low relief, the finial is in the form of a pinecone, and the fluted piedouche rests on a square base. The eight-day movement, which is visible by lifting the ornate top, strikes a bell on the hour and half-hour. It is in good working order and complete but not recently overhauled. 19th Century. Height : 37 cm. Niderviller Porcelain Manufactory: In the mid-1700s, porcelain became so popular among the nobility that aristocrats began sponsoring their own manufactories. Jean-Louis Beyerlé, an advisor to the king, founded one such operation at Niderviller in 1748, developing it out of an earlier faience-making business. The new enterprise initially drew its workers and stylistic inspiration from a neighboring concern in Strasbourg, which produced ceramic wares in the Rococo taste. At Niderviller, the workers modified the bright Strasbourg palette, making it softer. Because of its unique location in the duchy of Lorraine where it was exempt from French laws designed to protect the royal monopoly of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory Niderviller flourished for nearly twenty years, unlike other French porcelain manufactories. When the Duke of Lorraine died in 1766, the territory reverted back to the French crown, and the manufactory was then subject to new, even tighter restrictions on production and decoration. In 1772 Beyerlé sold the factory to the French count Lanfrey and continued under his direction until 1827. During the 19th century the use of 18th century moulds was revived. Production at the factory continues in the early 21st century.