Clocks · Carriage clock
French repeating carriage clock
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1870
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- France
- Object type
- Carriage clock
- Dimensions
- Height 14 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 2523
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 2523)
- Catalogue title (original)
- A GORGEOUS SMALL ANTIQUE FRENCH REPEATING CARRIAGE CLOCK (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 2523), this is a carriage clock, made in France, dated c. 1870. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 14 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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 — The Antique Clock Company
A high-quality small French satin gilt brass gorge cased carriage clock with bevelled glasses and a rippled handle over a large bevelled glass inspection panel, moulded cornice and uprights to a matching base. Retailed by Henry Bell, the movement made by Henri Jacot is numbered 561. An excellent clean white enamel dial with Roman numerals and finished with original finely blued steel “Breguet” style hands. The 8-day striking, repeating movement is finished with the original silvered Swiss lever platform escapement with compensated bi-metallic balance. The clock strikes the hours to a gong, with a single strike on the half-hour. A gorgeous small clock of great quality. Henri Jacot: 31 Rue de Montmorency, Paris, also said to have had a factory at Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont. Paris exhibition 1855 and London exhibition 1862, bronze medals. Paris 1867, silver medal for carriage clocks and movements. Paris 1878 silver medal for carriage clocks. Paris 1889, gold medal for carriage clocks. Paris 1900, gold medal for carriage clocks. The first Henri Jacot died in 1868. He was succeeded by a nephew of the same name. Responsible for the production of superb carriage clocks. Comparative Literature: Carriage Clocks, Their history and development – Allix & Bonnert. Height: 5 ½ ” or 14cm (Handle up)
Provenance
Private collection U.K.
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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