| Surely one of the most unusual clocks we have had the pleasure of offering, this clock was almost certainly custom made for a very wealthy client and is assumed to be one of a kind.
The case is a masterpiece of lost wax casting with hand chased deep relief scroll, leaf and floral motifs, which continue on the back plate. The dial is delicately hand painted porcelain under a convex crystal.
The movement has a number of interesting complications including quarter hour bim bam strike on two bells, day and date calendar, sweep center seconds and alarm. In addition to these features there is a two-sided disc sur plateau musical movement that plays on the hour.
The four cords hanging from the bottom of the case activate four different cylinder music box movements surrounding the main clock movement.
Workmanship is exquisite, as one would expect from the Breguet workshops and it is signed both on the dial and the back plate of the movement. Judging from the unusual combination of a sur plateau musical movement with early cylinder movements, we surmise that it was built during the transition period of these two styles around 1830.
It is 10 inches in diameter and four inches deep.
Offered at $86,000.
|
|
