Guilmet Mystery Clock

Guilmet Mystery Clock, France, c. 1885, black marble base with incised and gilt floral decoration, cast bezel with beveled glass over the incised 4-in. Roman numeral dial, gilt lion head side handles and paw front feet, surmounted by a patinated metal classical female statue with upraised arm holding a gilt pendulum with a glass bob which swings without an visible means of impulse, eight-day time and strike movement marked Brevete GLT S.G.D.C. , ht. 25 in. Note: Guilmet was granted a patent in 1867 for this type of "mystery" clock. The pendulum is kept in motion by a imperceptible movement of the platform under the statue.