Rare Portable Table Gilt Bronze Clock With Chiming, Republican Dial, Late 18th Century

Description
Rare portable table or travel clock circa 1795, in finely chiseled and mercury-gilded bronze, with hour and half-hour striking. Rectangular in shape, it rests on four gadrooned "spinning top" feet. It features three glazed sides allowing the movement to remain visible. The front, still in the Louis XVI style, is decorated with applied motifs including laurel and acanthus branches, a quiver, a torch, a crown, and spandrels. The top is adorned with four gadrooned vase-shaped finials. The articulated and foldable handle covers the bell when lowered.

DIAL:
The white enamel dial features black-painted Arabic numerals for the duodecimal hours and minutes, and red-painted numerals from 1 to 5 for the decimal hours. The dial allows reading of both decimal and duodecimal hours with a single hour hand (one decimal hour corresponds to 2 hours and 24 minutes duodecimal). The dial is protected by a glass fitted into a bezel.

HANDS:
The hands are finely pierced, chiseled, and gilded bronze.

MOVEMENT:
With two square plates, the movement strikes the hours and half-hours, has an anchor escapement, and a silk thread suspension. It is equipped with a mechanism to immobilize the pendulum during transport. Winding is done from the back for a more aesthetically pleasing and visible dial.

Particularities:

• Rare model due to its short production period

• Decimal hour indication on the dial (rare version with decimal hour markings)

• Transport mechanism for the clock

• Rear winding

Dimensions:
Height: 23 cm
Width: 10,5cm
Depth: 7,5cm
Period: Late 18th century, around 1795

Condition Report:
Clock fully overhauled (September 2025), in very good working order, with original movement, dial, hands, bell, and mercury gilding, all in excellent state of preservation. Original mercury gilding in excellent condition. Two minor, invisible chips covered by the bezel.
The tips of both hands were modified at the time.

Shipping:
Please inquire for details.

References:
18th-century portable clocks are relatively rare. Some feature cases identical in construction to the one presented here, suggesting they may originate from the same workshop.
For similar models, see:

• Sotheby’s Paris sale, November 5, 2014

• Hampel auction in Germany

• Christie’s sale, May 23, 2024

• Troyes sale, February 1, 2020, Lot 38

Links:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/oeil-collectionneur-mobilier-objets-art-tableaux-18-siecle-pf1431/lot.209.html?locale=fr
https://www.hampel-auctions.com/a/archive-catalogue-detail.html?la=fr&a=125&s=724&id=563045
https://www.ivoire-france.com/fr/lot-3445-454653-38_pendule_transportable_depoque_louis_x