Automaton Beam Engine Clock by Andre Guilmet

A miniature French skeleton clock with silk suspension and eight day movement, dating from the mid 19th century, with original glass dome on an ebonised and brass inlayed base with enamel dial. This clock was made by Victor Athanase Pierret whose distinctive VAP mark in an oval is stamped on the base of this clock. He exhibited a small skeleton alarm at the 1851 Great exhibition at Crystal Palace of which this may well be a version. Victor-Athanase Pierret (1806 - 1893) Victor-Athanse Pierret was born 1806 in Bucy-les-Pierrepont. He began his five year apprenticeship with Rolin at the age of 13. Later he moved to Paris and settled in the Rue des Bons-Enfants no. 21 when he was 24. Pierret created pendulum clocks with and without calender indicator, cases for ship’s chronometers, chronometer escapements with temperature compensation and night light clocks with pendulum. At the London Exhibition of 1851 he presented an alarm clock and a pendulum clock with a globe. In 1853 Pierret applied for a patent for a new date indication device, in 1855 he patented an 8-day power reserve movement. Pierret created his own watchmaking tools...

An exceptional Ships Clock set in a ships wheel in a heavy cast brass chromed case, striking the hours and the half hours. This eight day movement striking on a coiled blued steel go...

A fine ship’s bell bulkhead clock striking the ‘Dog Watches’ Sequence. This eight day twin fusee clock is a rare example of a ships striking clock marking ...

An unusual english single fusee mantel clock in a Louis XV style rocaille ormolu case in the french taste. The eight day fusee movement is of superb quality with a pendulum descendin...

A late 19th century French gilt-brass and steel novelty ‘quarterdeck’ mantel clock by Guilmet, Paris, the eight-day gong striking movement with anchor escapement, circular gilt Roman...

Large French Style 8 Day Brass Automaton Steam Engine Industrial Clock Here we have a wonderful example of the industrial series popular in French horology. While the clock is stri...

Large French Style 8 Day Brass Automaton Steam Engine Industrial Clock w Marble Base Here we have a wonderful example of the industrial series popular in French horology. While the ...

One of the most amazing timepieces we have ever acquired that offers far more than meets the eye, this incredible work of art blends the beauty of a painting with the mechanical complexities of both a cylinder music box and an automaton. While it is clear to see the integrated clock residing within the arched giltwood and gesso frame, when activated, this painting quite literally comes alive. As the cylinder mechanism within plays its lovely tune, every character in the farrier's shop becomes animated – from the group of farrier's toiling away at the forge and anvil forming the horseshoes, to the wagging of the charming terrier's tale. This musical automaton picture clock is attributed to Xavier Tharin of Paris who was the preeminent creator of this fantastical "moving pictures", especially this particular farrier scene. His process mixed oil painting and hand-colored lithograph images that were layered starting from the back, middle and foreground to craft the complex series of movements throughout the painting. A look inside this particular work reveals the complex mechanism (with the three gongs, pendulum and cylinder components immediately visible) which must run the timepiece, the cylinder musical component plus the multitude of moving elements in the painting...a truly incredible feat considering the technical prowess to create just one of these devices. Musical picture clocks...