Lot 33
A fine and rare second half of the 19th century French ormolu month-going, perpetual calendar centre-seconds table regulator with barometer, twin thermometers and moonphase indication and special visible escapement to a gridiron pendulum Le Roy & Fils, Palais Royal, Gal(er)ie. Montpensier 13 & 15, Paris 1
16 December 2020, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£12,000 - £18,000
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A fine and rare second half of the 19th century French ormolu month-going, perpetual calendar centre-seconds table regulator with barometer, twin thermometers and moonphase indication and special visible escapement to a gridiron pendulum
Le Roy & Fils, Palais Royal, Gal(er)ie. Montpensier 13 & 15, Paris
The substantial arched case surmounted by a shallow urn finial over bevelled glass panels and side pilasters, on a moulded base and squat bun feet, the arched glazed front set with six enamel dials; the time read against a Roman chapter ring with signed recessed centre displaying the special single-beat escapement, set over a pair of 2.5 inch dials giving the moons age and phase together with the day of the week, the other displaying the date and month, the lower third of the dial plate set with a metallic barometer giving seven weather predictions in French, flanked by an alcohol centigrade/reamur thermometer and a mercury Fahrenheit/reamur thermometer. The clock movement with large rectangular plates united by heavy pillars, the substantial zinc and steel gridiron pendulum with large bob suspended from an elaborate mount, rack striking the hours and the half-hours on a bell, the calendar dial with year setting dial to the rear. 57cms (22ins) high (1)
The substantial arched case surmounted by a shallow urn finial over bevelled glass panels and side pilasters, on a moulded base and squat bun feet, the arched glazed front set with six enamel dials; the time read against a Roman chapter ring with signed recessed centre displaying the special single-beat escapement, set over a pair of 2.5 inch dials giving the moons age and phase together with the day of the week, the other displaying the date and month, the lower third of the dial plate set with a metallic barometer giving seven weather predictions in French, flanked by an alcohol centigrade/reamur thermometer and a mercury Fahrenheit/reamur thermometer. The clock movement with large rectangular plates united by heavy pillars, the substantial zinc and steel gridiron pendulum with large bob suspended from an elaborate mount, rack striking the hours and the half-hours on a bell, the calendar dial with year setting dial to the rear. 57cms (22ins) high (1)
Footnotes
This rare and unusual escapement is reserved for the finest French table regulators and often combined with additional complex features such as perpetual calendar, a sweep seconds hand and a temperature compensating pendulum. The pendulum on the current clock is a fine half-seconds beating brass and zinc gridiron type.
The very fine ratchet shaped teeth of the escape wheel are for locking alone, eliminating the extensive engaging friction normally witnessed with the entry pallet of other anchor pattern escapements. There are two points of action on this escape wheel; locking on the long teeth and impulse by the horizontal pins on the lesser diameter of the rim of the wheel on the exit pallet.
The impulse plane on the exit pallet, with the lesser force of disengaging friction, is a concave curve. This curve is mapped providing an increasing impulse in the wider arcs of the pendulum. With the action of the escape wheel on only every second beat, the sweep hand indicates full seconds.
With the high precision required in the layout and manufacture, this escapement is capable of providing impressive accuracy over extended periods, whilst the unusual kinetic intermittent action is a fascinating visual diversion.
Le Roy et Fils was founded in 1785 by Basile Charles le Roy (1765-1839) and was continued by his son, Charles-Louis Le Roy.
The firm prospered after the French Revolution, and were appointed clockmaker to Napoleon I and later, the restored Bourbons.
Le Roy opened their first shop in London in Regent Street in 1854 and later in New Bond Street in 1885. Le Roy et Fils became a Royal Warrant holder for Queen Victoria in 1864, the only foreign clockmaker with a British Royal Warrant.
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