97,000 CHF
Louis Berthoud, No. 3, circa 1793. Extremely rare and very fine weight-driven center-seconds wall “Valet Astronomique” regulator. Mounted to a heavy brass plate with three wall adjustment screws with brass safety nuts, gilt brass circular movement housing, glazed bezel with a brass plate below with applied silver initial “B”. Notes This is the previously unrecorded duodecimal companion to Berthoud's decimal “Valet Astronomique” No. 2, made for the Paris Observatory in 1792. It is virtually the same except for the dial, which in the Paris Observatory is calibrated for the decimal system. This clock required considerable experimentation on Berthoud's part. He received the commission with a 500 livre advance on May 1, 1792. It is last mentioned in his journal on February 17, 1794. On January 4, 1794 he wrote, concerning the dial:“I shall mark the minutes around the circumference which will serve at the same time for the seconds, the hours will be inside”. The clock was delivered to the Observatory either in 1795 or 1796. It appears that the design was so successful that Berthoud made one more, exactly the same the present one, possibly for a scientific institution outside the French Republic. “Valet Astronomiques” were built for scientific and surveying purposes. They were constructed so that just the movement with its heavy bracket could be traveled with and placed almost anywhere. For this reason they were extremely well and solidly made; some had carrying cabinets.Lit
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-10-11
