798,250 CHF
Au Général Bonaparte Clock No. 178, sold on 5 Floréal an 6 (24 April 1798), for the sum of 1500 Francs. Small gilt bronze travelling clock with quarterrepeating and almanac calendar. Notes Note: The records confirm that this clock, No. 178, completed in 1796, was the first carriage clock ever made by Breguet. A series of three were planned, but the two others were not finished at the time, being recorded as apparently lost. Curiously, an entry made at a much later date (September 1890) records that clock No. 179 was in fact sold in approximately 1804 to the Duc de Marchessa (François de Bourbon, King of Naples), for 3500 or 4000 Francs. It was obviously completed after 1800, with the addition of an alarm train, a moon in blued-steel and a later form of escapement with compensation balance and parachute (see George Daniels: The Art of Breguet, p. 164, fig. 155 a - d) Clock No. 178, bought by Général Bonaparte has survived in completely original condition, and is as such a unique document in the history of the pendule de voyage. It appears to be the very first made in the form (rectangular, glazed all round with visible movement and a folding handle) that was to be adopted by the Courvoisiers, Cugnier and Leschot in Switzerland, Paul Gamier, Oudin and LeRoy in France, and eventually to become the standard pattern for the modern carriage clock. One of many legends surrounding the life of Napoleon relates how he required his senior officers to make use of portable clocks to
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1991-04-14
