Antique American Simon Willard Son 8 Day Banjo Clock Patent Timepiece 1825

A fine antique French Boulle 8 day mantle clock, Paris, circa 1880. The clock having a cast gilt bronze ormolu finial to the top, modeled as a tazza full of fruit, the case is made o...

An outstanding quality antique gilded bronze & Sevres porcelain French 3 piece, 8 day clock garniture with candelabra, by Brocot & Delettrez, Paris, circa 1870. The clock with an 'egg' shaped urn made of cobalt blue Sevres porcelain with a hand-painted panel with a neo-classical beauty and a cupid, the rear is painted with gilt birds & floral decoration. The urn with gilt bronze handles to the sides held in the mouths of lion's masks, the clock below also with sumptuously decorated with gilded cobalt porcelain panels, the clock dial with black Roman numerals & is finely painted with two horses and a chariot with a putti falling out of the chariot. The clock has two winding arbors one for the 8 day time wind the other for a chime, the clock chimes the hours on a soft delicate sounding bell, the clock is in full working order and was recently professionally cleaned. The clock is complemented with a pair of gilt bronze & cobalt blue Sevres porcelain four branch vasiform candelabras, decorated with oval panels to the front with putti & Neoclassical maidens, the back panels finely painted with birds, each candelabra is in two sections and raised on gilt bronze bases with corbel brackets & acanthus leaf feet. The bronze casting is very likely by the Barbedienne Foundry in Paris, as the quality is outstanding, the clock is stamped "BD" for Achille Brocot (1817-1878) and Jean-Baptiste Delettrez (1816-1887), they were two of the most important French clock makers of the mid to late 19th century, please see some biography below. The clock is mechanically & cosmetically in excellent condition, and was recently overhauled by a clock-smith, the porcelain & ormolu are also in excellent condition, one of the very best investment quality gilt-bronze & Sevres porcelain clock garnitures by the top French makers of the period, circa 1870. This garniture will be professionally crated for shipping. Delettrez and Achille Brocot, son of the respected clockmaker Louis-Gabriel Brocot, established the clockmaking company "Brocot et Delettrez" in Paris on 20 October 1851, with premises at 62 Rue Charlot Paris. Jean-Baptiste Delettrez worked alongside Achille Brocot for several years and their clock movements are considered to be the most effective made during the late 19th century. Their specialty was a range of clocks based on the innovations of Brocot père and his other son Antoine, but generally of Achille's greatly advanced original design, some having a unique single-arm double-wheel escapement, some having a temperature-compensated pendulum, some having two dials, one of which showed the time and the other which showed a calendar and often other information such as phases of the moon, times of sunrise & sunset in Paris, etc. The firm was awarded a 1st class prize at the Paris World Exposition of 1857 for a commercial clock...