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Brass-and-glass
carriage clock of
Paris
origin circa 1880s. It features a high-grade time/strike/repeater/alarm
movement. The case style is referred to as "Gorge". The enamel
dial has a small chapter ring beneath the center post with a small single
hand to set the alarm activation feature. A button on the top-front of the
case is pressed to activate, on the gong, a "repeat" of the
last-hour. The clock runs a week on a single winding and strikes the hours
and the half-hours. All four side-glasses and the (oval) top-glass are beveled
and all original to the clock. The only thing not original in the clock
are 4 teeth on the winding-barrel of the alarm train. Sometime in the past
it "skipped"a tooth, and bent-over the 3 adjacent teeth. Mr.
Richard Ketchen, arguably the finest clock mechanism restorer in the
country, replaced the 4 damaged teeth for me. I have a pretty good eye for
such things and I can't find them! It was also dis-assembled, overhauled,
and cleaned and oiled during the same period of 2000. It's winding-key is
the only key I've ever seen with the clock serial number stamped on it!
It's companion travel box is wood (much of the leather has worn off over
the last 125 years) and velvet-lined. The hinged lid has a button which
can be pressed to activate the repeater when the clock is in the box (in
your carriage, of course!) The front of the box has a slide-up door which
enables you to see the clock dial inside.
Clock was purchased from an elderly lady on the
South
Shore
in 1999. She was somehow connected to the Studley family of
Hanover
. David Studley was a well-known clock maker in the late 18th, early 19th
C. The clock is a fine example of the best quality clock making in
Europe
in the heyday of the French clock industry. A
Exceptional Time Piece used in the horse and buggy carriage in the
1880's. A Museum Quality Treasure! $2900
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