A rare mid-19th century French one-piece cased carriage clock

Baullier (Père et fils) and Paul Garnier

Footnotes

The Baullier dynasty of clock manufactures were established in 1789. By 1823, the elder Baullier was operating out of 102 Rue du Temple in Paris and advertising as a clock and watch maker. Three years later the firm had become Baullier, père et fils, still operating out of the same location. It seems likely that the younger Baullier was apprenticed to his father, finishing his apprenticeship in 1826. On 15 April 1827, the shop was relocated to 9 Rue Vendôme, and the firm appears to have expanded their offerings to included horological wholesale. Two years later, the firm had expanded again, to include gilt bronze clock cases. Confusingly, they are listed as still operating out of 102 Rue du Temple, as well as 7 Rue Vendôme. Additionally, a clock and watch maker named Baullier was listed as part of the committee for the Parisian 6th district town hall, beginning from this date. Two years after this, a horologist named Baullier served as juror. Sometime before 1836, the younger Baullier appears to have married a woman of very good standing, though as with the rest of the dynasty her first name remains unknown. In 1836, though, she is listed as a wealthy donor to a charity ball, specifically held to raise money for the poor of the 6th district in Paris. Her address is listed as 9 Rue Vendôme.
Less then a year later, the name of the firm was changed to 'Baullier, Elder & Co.' and their address was listed as 9 Rue Vendôme. The firm's trades were described as 'clock makers, wholesale orders, gilt bronzes cases and watches of all types'. This title would be in place throughout 1839, though by this point the firm was known by several other names; 'Baullier, elder clockmaker 9 Rue Vendôme', 'Baullier's son & Co. Rue Vendôme', and the first mention of 'Baschet-Baullier 9 Rue Vendôme'. Similar to the Baullier family, Baschet's surname is unknown and very little is known about them. A year later, these titles were all still in use, though Baullier, père et fils 9 Rue Vendôme, had supplanted 'Baullier, Elder & Co.'
It appears that Baullier Sr. had transferred the shop to Baullier Jr. and Baschet in 1841, a notice appearing in several trade journals that the latter were now the successors to the former. It is also the first time that Baullier's wife is listed in the trade journals, as a metal engraver working out of 48 Coquillière. Baullier is also listed as working out of this address as a horologist. No mention is given of Baschet trading at this location.
Less then a year later, the Baulliers had relocated to 67 Vieux-Augustins, though the shop Baullier and Baschet took over remained at 9 Rue Vendôme. In 1843, mention is again made of a horologist named Baullier serving as part of the committee for the 6th district town hall; it is possibly that the elder Baullier's position on the committee was transferred to his son on the former's retirement, though it is also possible that the younger Baullier had been part of the committee since 1829. This same year, the famed conjuror and horologist began working out of 9 Rue Vendôme (having been at 11 Rue Vendôme the previous year) an address he would work out off until 1846.
The following year, the firm exhibited during the 'Industry Exposition of 1844' though their name had again changed, now becoming 'Baschet, Baullier and brother'. They exhibited a selection of pillar clocks and gilt bronze cases. The firm's name was changed in trade journals as well, to 'Baschet, Baullier and brother', with mention being made that all three were the successors of the elder Baullier. In 1846, Baullier and his wife moved to 43 Vieux-Augustins, and the former expanded his offerings to include both horological repair and polishing. The firm expanded in 1847, to offer Carcel lamps (clockwork driven oil lamps) in addition to 'clocks and general horology'. In 1848, Baullier's wife advertised as a jeweller as well as a metal engraver, the couple had also moved again, to 55 Montmartre. Interestingly, Baullier's wife is also referred to as Mme. H^te, likely Madame Haute which was a designation for an aristocrat at the time. Based on her past involvement as a donor to a Parisian ball, it seems that she may have been quite wealthy.
In 1849, Mme. Baullier began to specify that she was a metal engraver for horological items, likely meaning an engraver for back/balance cocks, backplates, etc. There is also no longer any reference to the Baullier brother, the firm's name reverting back Baschet Baullier. Two years later the shop would move premises for the last time, to 7 Rue Vendôme. Less then a year later, in Baullier's solo advertisement, working out of 55 Montmartre, he described himself as a shop horologist (a horologist who repairs horological items out of a non-horological shop), possibly indicating his wife owned a jeweller's shop at which he was the horologist.
In 1854, the Baulliers were operating out of 49 and 55 Montmartre, moving to 47-49 Montmartre shortly after. In 1856, Baschet, Baullier and Callaud of 7 Rue Vendôme Paris took out a 15-year patent for an 'electric remontoire'. Callaud appears to have been a Parisian horologist who had been working in Paris since at least 1833. As he is only named in the patent, it is possible that he entered into partnership with Baschet and Baullier strictly for the manufacture of clocks with an 'electric remontoir'.
The firm continued to advertise in trade journals until 1861, after which point no mention can be found of Baschet Baullier, or Baullier on his own. The advertisements for the Baullier's wife stopped a year previously, and never pick up again. This date, 1860-61, coincides with the very end of the third global cholera pandemic, and the very beginning of the fourth, making it possible that all three manufacturers were victims. In 1884, an obituary was published for Julie Bourlet, née Baullier, a 24 year old horologist. Further, in 1898, a marriage notice is published for Rose-Emilile-Pauline Baullier (no profession) to Jules-Louis-Joseph Abry (watch case manufacturer). What relation these two women have to each other, and the Baullier horologists described, remains unknown.
As the clock is marked Baullier, père et fils, the clock would likely have been manufactured between 1826-1840


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