A fine and rare mid 19th century engraved gilt brass, grande sonnerie striking and repeating carriage clock with chaff-cutter escapement, gilt numerals, original travel case and numbered key

Paul Garnier No. 2228. The frontplate stamped H.L.

Footnotes

Provenance:
This clock was the property of William Eve, mayor of Stoke Newington 1902-1903, and could well have been in his family ownership since new.

The Holingue family, also sometimes spelt Hollingue, were generational clock manufacturers, whose workshop was thought to have been established by Jean-Baptiste Holingue in Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont, possibly in the early 19th century. It was taken over by his two sons, Jean-Francois and Louis, around 1845, or possibly a bit earlier. It appears there was a period when Jean-Francois, presumably the elder of the two brothers, was running the workshop on his own and trading under the name of Holingue fils. This period seems to have begun around 1845, when Holingue fils is mentioned in a civil service journal, and continued at least until 1849, when Holingue fils were awarded a Bronze Medal at the Universal Exposition of that year. The workshop was only mentioned as manufacturing clock movements. It is known that Louis and his partner had a son, Louis Albert, around 1848, which may explain his initial absence from the workshop. It has been suggested that Holingue fils briefly partnered with Emile Martin to form Holingue et Martin, possibly just to exhibit together in the 1851 Exposition. Both workshops were based in Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont, but this potential partnership couldn't be verified. By 1855, however, Louis seems to have joined his brother, as the workshop had been renamed to Holingue frères. They were advertising as 'makers of rough movements, carriage clocks, 8-day clocks, alarm clocks, etc.' and reference was also made to the bronze medal won in 1849.
A year later, at the 1856 Universal Exposition, they received an honourable mention and seemingly had expanded their offerings to include regulators, chronometer blanks, calendar complications, and telegraph movements. In 1857, they listed their business simply as makers of movements, and this description continued until at least 1864. Whether they had stopped producing chronometer blanks, telegraph movements, etc. or they felt it unnecessary to advertise the breadth of their output is unknown. The workshop did exhibit in the Rouen Exposition of 1857, and their entry was described as a 'perfected movement' which struck the quarters and alarm on a carillon.
In 1875/76 Louis Albert, Louis' son, appears to have sold the workshop to Drocourt, which was one of the main firms they supplied movements to. It is likely that this sale was due to Louise Albert not wanting to take up the family workshop; he had married in Paris, in 1870, to Victor Reclus' daughter, Henriette Clarisse Amélie Reclus. As the Reclus family had a workshop in Paris and a home in the Parisian suburbs, it is understandable that Louis Albert would not relish the prospect of taking on a workshop in Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont. It remains unknown if either his father or uncle were alive when the workshop was sold. Drocourt continued to supply rough movements to the Holingue frères former customers, in addition to using the old stock in his own clocks.
The following firms and workshops are all known to have used movements by Holingue frères: Moser, Paul Garnier, Moise Bollviller, Drocourt, Leroy et Fils, Athanase Bourdin, Dent, and Victor Reclus

Normandy Association (1856) Annuaire des Cinq Départements de la Normandie. Paris: Derache. p.504.
Extence, L. (2022) Holingue frères: An Engraved Gorge Carriage Clock with Subsidiary Dials. Available at: https://www.extence.co.uk/1440-holingue-gorge-carriage-clock
French Empire (1846) Bulletin des Lois de la République Française. Nos. 793-820. Paris: Imprimerie Royale. p. 498.
Bères, É. (1850) Liste des Exposants Auxquels Ont Été Décernées des Recompenses. Paris: G. Gratiot. p. 262.
Wotruba, T. (2020) 'Carriage Clocks Identified with Dent and Paris in Their Signatures', Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 41 (1), pgs. 68-75.
Extence, L. (2019) 'Story of a Carriage Clock', Horological Journal, Vol.161 (11), pgs. 462-463.
Firmin-Didot, A. (1855-1863) Annuaire-Almanach du Commerce, de l'industrie, de la Magistrature et de l'Administration. Paris: Ambroise Firmin-Didot.
Willot, B. (2018) Victor Reclus, Inventeur et Homme de Cœur. Available at: http://polmoresie.over-blog.fr/2017/09/victor-reclus-inventeur-et-homme-de-coeur.html
Extence, L. (2014) Pierre & Alfred Drocourt: An Exhibition of Carriage Clocks. Available at: https://www.extence.co.uk/_files/ugd/401715_28a0b07365c34b97bf1b22c078f5417e.pdf
Bordeleau, P. (2020) 'Les Grands Moments de l'Horlogerie Française', Collectionner Des Horloges Anciennes. Available at: https://clockworks-horloges.com/300-histoire/307-france/