883,500 CHF
Pendule Pyramidale and Muses Breguet, Pendule Pyramidale, No. 449, bronzes by Pierre-Philippe Thomire and Nicolas DelaFontaine dit Le Jeune, begun in 1805, sold to Monsieur Follope on March 10, 1827 for 3000 Francs. Exceptionally fine and rare gilt bronze 8 day-going double-barrel precision mantel regulator with overhanging pendulum and patented constant force chronometer escapement, dead seconds and hour and half-hour striking. Pyramid-shaped on rectangular base, the frame of darkened bronze, side panels decorated with applied gilt bronze ornaments depicting Urania, the Muse of Astronomy, Calliope, the Muse of Philosophy, and Clio, the Muse of History, front finished at the top with a Medusa’s head on a sliding cylindrical fixture covering the pendulum suspension, matte and gilt frame, glazed front and back with beveled glass, gilt base with typical Empire pattern, turtle feet, the whole standing on Portor marble base with adjustable gilt bun feet. Platform escapement covered with gilt oval plate with bezel finished with beaded pattern, the plate is fixed with silvered pendulum amplitude plate and leveling pin and with sliding security device when traveling. White enamel, Roman numerals, outer minute track. Blued steel Breguet hands. Winding apertures for the going train concealed under the bezel, which is flanked by Prudence, one of the four Cardinal Virtues, and the allegory of the Genius of Fame, with hinged foot revealing the striking winding aperture. Small silvered
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2002-10-19
