LONDON, ENGLAND.- Arts Minister provides last chance to save an exhibition clock by 19th century French imperial jeweller, Baugrand.

Arts Minister Estelle Morris has placed a temporary export bar on a clock made in Paris in 1867. The clock, which is of architectural form in the Neo-Renaissance style, epitomises the exhibition work of a French Imperial Jeweller, Baugrand, at his period of greatest influence and the patronage of a pre-eminent British collector, the Earl of Dudley.

At the time of the Paris exhibition in 1867, Baugrand was at the height of his reputation. Lord Dudley, who was president of the jury for jewellery, purchased the clock in the exhibition.

The clock can be seen in a photograph of Baugrand's stand published in 1908 by Henri Vever, the jeweller and pre-eminent historian of French nineteenth-century jewellery. Baugrand's display included a peacock brooch also bought by Lord Dudley, and a necklace made for the Empress Eugénie. The Queen of Portugal is known to have been another client at the time.

Baugrand died during the siege of Paris in 1870. The brevity of his career and the customary resetting of jewellery with precious stones have made his work very rare. The clock under deferral stands as a superb example of French Renaissance Revival goldsmith's work, combining the arts of the modeller, the chaser, the enameller, and the engraver.

Estelle Morris's ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art that the export decision be deferred because the clock is of outstanding aesthetic importance and valuable for the study of Paris goldsmithing of the mid- nineteenth century and of British patronage of the decorative arts.

The deferral will enable purchase offers to be made to purchase the clock at the following agreed fair market price:

A gold, silver-gilt lapis lazuli and enamel exhibition clock by Gustave Baugrand, c. 1867 deferred at the recommended price of £295,000 (excluding VAT). The above items are deferred until after 17 January 2005 with the possibility of an extension until after 17 March 2005 if there is a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase the clock.

Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the clock should contact the owner's agent through:

The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH