Lot 758
A rare mid 19th century French glass and ormolu mystery clock.Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805 -...
Monday 30 March 2015 | 10:00 | Lots: 508
Lot 758
A rare mid 19th century French glass and ormolu mystery clock.Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805 -...
Lot 758
Lot Description
A rare mid 19th century French glass and ormolu mystery clock.
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805 - 1871)
The two-piece circular glass Roman dial, signed “ROBERT HOUDIN PARIS”, with gilt arrow hand, on foliate scroll supports over a pair of concentric glass columns above tapering socle with lion masks and flowerheads, the concave quadripartite base with mythical beast terminals, the turquoise plush-covered bombe plinth with pierced scroll mounts on ebonised bun feet, enclosing the two-train movement, countwheel-striking the hours and half hours on a bell, numbered 497 77, stamped ‘HOUDIN’ and with exposition stamp, 21”, (53.5cm) high.
Provenance: Private collection for the past fifteen years approximately. This clock is part of a series of clocks made in the late 1830s, with only a single hand but normal minute divisions. It therefore must predate Houdin’s Fourth Series (of six), which were the first to have separate hour and minute hands.
Postage: Auction Default
Weight: No
Total lot weight: No
Condition Report
Dial – undamaged, but at odds with single-hand operation as has minute divisions (so does not logically tell time with single hand). Breguet (who trained Houdin’s father-in-law) did seemingly make some single-hand clocks with minute divisions so this is not necessarily ‘wrong’, however it is more likely that the dial is from a later version (with two hands).
The single hand has been soldered.
The movement appears to be sound and we can see no evidence of repairs or alteration as per images. The movement is operational in that it responds when prompted, however its accuracy has not been tested. We do advise a light clean and service as with all second-hand timepieces and we do not guarantee any items sold with moving parts.
The glass tubes are both essentially intact but the inner appears to have a small stabilised flaw or crack where it meets the gearing at the base. This is not visible when the piece is displayed and does not appear to affect function.
The blue plush base is slightly faded to some faces, and the area around each winding arbour appears a little ragged (I would have expected to see mounts or collets surrounding the holes).
The clock is sold with a chronometer-style long-stemmed winder.
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