Clocks · Clock
An Unusual 19th Century Carriage Clock with Sweep Seconds for the Chinese Market
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 19th century
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- brass, gilt, enamel
- Auction house
- Invaluable auction listings
- Lot
- Lot 5B91B4666D
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 204, Precious Objects: Fine Silver & Works of Art, Curated Auctions (2026), via Invaluable
- Catalogue title (original)
- AN UNUSUAL 19TH CENTURY CARRIAGE CLOCK WITH SWEEP SECONDS FOR THE CHINESE MARKET (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Invaluable auction listings (lot Lot 5B91B4666D), this is a clock, dated 19th century. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: brass, gilt, enamel. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Lot description — Curated Auctions
the French engraved gilt brass carriage clock case with glazed pin-hinged door, on ogee moulded skirt base finely engraved with foliate decoration, the gilt mask with octagonal aperture revealing the white enamel Roman numeral dial with sweep centre seconds over Arabic numeral alarm setting dial to lower margin, with push repeat button above to the back side of the case, the eight-day two train bell striking movement with lever platform escapement, the backplate applied with external visible strikework, the backplate stamped with number 685, with winder, 17cm high handle up The movement is currently winding, ticking and striking when the hands are turned and the push repeat is working but not fully tested and not guaranteed
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Carriage and travel clocks
The carriage clock is a portable spring clock with a balance-wheel escapement and a brass case with glass panels and a carrying handle. Abraham-Louis Breguet made early examples around 1800, and from the 1830s Paul Garnier and other French makers industrialised production, with the small towns of Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont and the Franche-Comté supplying movements for retailers worldwide.
Typical features include a platform escapement mounted horizontally on top of the movement (usually a lever, sometimes cylinder or Garnier's chaff-cutter), striking or repeating work, and alarms. English carriage clocks, generally larger and with fusees, were made by firms such as Frodsham and Dent. Travel clocks in folding leather cases became popular in the twentieth century.
What to look for
- A platform escapement visible through the top glass.
- Case styles: corniche, gorge, anglaise, obis or engraved cases.
- Repeat buttons on top and strike/silent levers.
- Stamps of movement makers (e.g. Drocourt, Jacot, Margaine, Richard & Co.) on the backplate.
Dating clues
- Early carriage clocks with Breguet or Garnier features: c. 1800–1850.
- Mass-produced French carriage clocks: c. 1850–1914.
- Folding travel clocks and alarm travel clocks: mostly 1920–1970.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Detached lever escapement
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