Clocks · Carriage clock
French carriage clock by Drocourt, c. 1880
- Maker / attribution
- Drocourt (maker)
- Date
- c. 1880
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- France
- Object type
- Carriage clock
- Dimensions
- Height 19.6 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 31
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 31)
- Catalogue title (original)
- DROCOURT, PARIS, N° 11261. A VERY RARE GIANT GRANDE-SONNERIE CARRIAGE CLOCK IN AN ENAMELLED GORGE CASE MADE FOR TIFFANY READ & CIE PARIS. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 31), this is a carriage clock by Drocourt, made in France, dated c. 1880. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 19.6 cm. 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
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A very rare giant grande-sonnerie carriage clock in an enamelled gorge case made for Tiffany Read & Cie Paris. The gilded giant gorge case is beautifully decorated with a cream enamel ground having a leaf and floral decoration, with three position strike selector in the base. The dial mask en suite with a white enamel dial, Roman numerals with outside Arabic minutes at five minute intervals, seconds chapter at XII o’clock, gilt hands and signed for Tiffany Read & Cie Paris; below a rectangular aperture for three subsidiary dials showing day of the week, date of the month and centred by an alarm set dial. The substantial two train spring barrel grande-sonnerie movement with repeat button bearing the mark of Drocourt and numbered 11261, with a large silvered platform lever escapement and compensated balance. The clock comes with a ‘giant’ numbered winding key. Height: 8 in (19.6 cm) With handle up: 9 ½ in (24.2 cm) Width: 5 ⅝ in (14.25 cm) Depth: 4 ⅝ in (11.75 cm) * This type of case decoration, very much in the style of Tiffany, has not as yet been seen on a giant French carriage clock. HW5828 Signed / Inscribed Drocourt 11261
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific 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.
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