The case of this clock, or pendule en cartel, is attributed to one of the foremost French eighteenth-century cabinetmakers, Charles Cressent. The clock with bracket form is based on designs by André Charles Boulle (1642-1732), royal cabinetmaker to Louis XIV of France. Boulle also excelled at a type of marquetry using tortoiseshell and brass, which can be seen on the bracket of this clock. Thin sheets of tortoiseshell and brass were laid on top of one another and a design was traced and cut out through the two layers, creating two sets of the pattern. The brass could be used as the primary decoration, with tortoiseshell as a background, as on this bracket, or vice versa. The exhuberant gilt brass case of this clock displays organic motifs characteristic of the rococo style, which flourished during the reign of Louis XV.