Enamel Mantel Clock

Swiss-born Jean (or Joseph) Coteau was one of the finest enamel and miniature artists of the 18th century, coming from the fine tradition of Genevan enamel painters. Coteau was made "maître peintre-émailleur" (master of enamel painting) by the Académie de Saint-Luc in Geneva.

Coteau devoted himself to allegoric illustrations but also painted portraits (he painted a portrait of Elisa Bonaparte). In the late 1760’s, Coteau moved to Paris where he quickly developed a reputation as an exceptional enamel and porcelain painter who is renowned for producing some of the finest enamel clock dials, pendulum bobs, and other adornments of timepieces. He developed a new and complicated process of creating ornaments with colored pearls on small gold plates as well as a method allowing him to paint with gold alloys on a translucent royal blue background, which created a vivid and almost relief-like effect. The process bears his name, the "Coteau Email.”

From 1780 to 1784 he also worked for the Royal Manufacture de Sèvres. Coteau was known for incorporating his signature within his work, adding a unique flair to his artwork.

Coteau died in 1801, leaving a legacy of distinctive and exquisite painted enamel art and timepieces.