DESCRIPTION:
France, Comtoise lantern clock, 30 hour, time and strike, weight driven movement with rare Maillet or Mayet escapement and atypical vertical rack strike with side mounted hammers, iron post and plate frame construction, brass dial with engraved Roman numerals, single brass hand, brass spandrels above and pivoted winding arbor shutters below, all topped with a pierced brass fronton with fleur de lis at the apex.
CONDITION:
Brass components on the front have been cleaned and polished. They are bright and show very fine scratches. Iron back plate and side doors are absent. No suspension shroud, but it probably never had one. Suspension height is 2.5 inches. Light rust on steel components. Iron fly with four blades. Strike trip piece deliberately extents out the left side of the clock. The second wheel of the time train has an curious pinion with three trundles. This clock has a rare escapement attributed to Maillet (also spelled "Mayet ") of Morbier. The escapement features a recoil style escape wheel with the pallets similar to those found on verge escapements, but each is mounted to an independent arbor that are connected to each other by a pivoted linkage. The Mayet family is credited with developing the first Comtoise clocks in the late 17th Century. The clock also has an unusual variant on the strike system in which the teeth on one side of the vertical rack are offset substantially from those on the opposite side. It also employs two large hammers, both side mounted, for the hour and half hour strike. No pendulum or weights. This clock was sold by Ivoire Saint-Etienne on October 13th, 2012 as lot number 4.
ESTIMATE:
$600
-
$900
PRICE SOLD:
$1300
CIRCA: mid 18th Century
DIMENSIONS: 13.5in x 7.5in x 5.5in
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