Direct from a Private Chateau Outside of Paris, a Magnificent Gold Plated Bronze and Black Marble Mantel Clock and Accompanying Candelabra Commemorating the Marriage of Charles V of France and Joanna de Bourbon, circa 1840s. Charles V, called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 – 1380. Joanna de Bourbon became Queen of France by Marriage to King Charles V on 8 April 1350. The Coat of Arms on the Base of the Clock Commemorates the Alliance of Their two Families.
Charles V, called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 - 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armies recovering much of the territory held by the English, and successfully reversed the military losses of his predecessors. This amazing clock commemorates his marriage to Joanna de Bourbon, his cousin, on April 8, 1350. Born in the Château de Vincennes, Joanna de Bourbon was a daughter of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, and Isabella of Valois, a half-sister of Philip VI of France. On 8 April 1350, she married her cousin, the future Charles V of France, at Tain-l'Hermitage. Born thirteen days apart, they both were 12 years old. When Charles ascended the throne in 1364, Joanna became queen of France. Queen Joanna and Charles V had somewhat of a strained relationship during his tenure as dauphin because of his infidelity with Biette de Cassinel, but their relationship improved when after he became King, and reportedly, he sometimes confided in her in political and cultural issues and relied on her advice. According to tradition, Joanna was rumored to have taken the poet Hippolyte de Saint-Alphon for a lover, who was the biological father of her child John. Queen Joanna was described as mentally fragile, and after the birth of her son Louis in 1372, she suffered a complete mental breakdown. This deeply worried Charles V, who made a pilgrimage and offered many prayers for her recovery. When she did recover and regained her normal state of mind in 1373, Charles V appointed her legal guardian and regent of France should he die when his son and heir was still a minor.
Charles had an acute understanding of royalty and a good political sense. While he shared the house of Valois’s taste for luxury and festivity, he reverted to the Capetian tradition of prudent diplomacy. The war with England soon broke out again. Two new factors worked in favor of France. First, Charles’s alliance with Henry II of Trastámara, king of Castile, cost the English their naval supremacy; a Castilian fleet destroyed English reinforcements off La Rochelle in 1372, which effectively secured the success of French operations in the west. Second, Charles abandoned the defective policy of massive engagement with the enemy.
This stunning gold plated bronze and black marble mantel clock measures approximately 66 cm. high, 53 cm. in length is 18 cm. deep and weights over 37 kilograms. Each candelabra, also in gold plated bronze and black marble, is approximately 61 cm. high and weights roughly 6.3 kilograms. Each of these amazing candelabra are also made of gold plated bronze and black marble. They stand roughly 61 cm. in height and each triangular base measure roughly 16 cm. in length per side. French marble is well known for its striking colourings and patterns giving it the grandeur which made it so popular for use in places such as the Palace of Versailles and the Georges V hotel in Paris.
