Lot 589

Paris, Height 505 mm, circa 1810
A striking glass skeletonised clock of supreme quality, with a power reserve of several months and single arm pin wheel escapement
Case: brass, firegilt, glass-plate. Dial: enamel chapter ring. Movm.: filigree brass train, single arm pin wheel escapement, compensation gridiron pendulum with knife edge suspension and gilt bob.
The arched glass plate mounted on two paw feet with acanthus sits on a solid gilt brass base. It is very attractively decorated with delicate gilt fretwork of foliate scrolls and acanthus, surmounted by two sphinges.
The elegance of this clock is a result of the delicate arrangement of the wheel train, which is highlighted by the glass plate. This type of clock was introduced at approximately the same time as the famous Souscription watches by Breguet and they share the same concept of functional design. The clock belongs to a series of Parisian Empire period skeleton clocks that all appear to have been created by the same maker but none of them bears a signature; however, Derek Roberts notes in "Continental and American Skeleton Clocks", 1990, p. 81, that the name of Belliard à Paris has been found on one example.