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18TH CENTURY TWO BELL FRENCH LANTERN CLOCK WITH CROWN WHEEL ESCAPEMENT..
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18TH CENTURY TWO BELL FRENCH LANTERN CLOCK WITH CROWN WHEEL ESCAPEMENT..
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The name Comtoise was given clocks manufactured in the villages of Morbier and Morez. The province is surrounded by Burgandy to the West (of which it is a part) and Alsace-Lorraine to the North, the Helvetian Mountains to the East and the Alps to the South. This exceptionally clean and well maintained example of the French 'Lantern' clock was made around 1760 during the reign of King Louis XV. Some fourteen years later when the infamous Marie Antoinette married King Louis XVI and became Queen of France, this old timer was already ticking away on someone's wall in that evolving nation. Those were turbulent times and the French Revolution produced changes even in the art and products found in the land. On the upper portion of the clock dial is a brass globe which, before hatred for the monarchy grew to a boil, bore the FLEUR-DE-LIS symbol of the French leadership. Evidently Protestant ire was expressed toward the regent by filing off that decoration. Above the globe is a Rooster or Cock which symbolized the Dawn of the Day or of Life. This was also a symbol of vigilence during the revolutionary times. The clock features a cast brass dial with lovely embellishments (see photograph) and porcelain numeral cartouches. There is also a name or signature cartouche below the dial bearing the name and location of the clockmaker--"DELOUYE A MARCILY SUR EUR". The mechanism has been professionally cleaned and adjusted for perfect operation. The crown wheel escapement runs well and strikes the hours on a large bell with the half-hours sounding on a smaller bell. Both bells are very quiet and non-obtrusive---unlike the loud, jarring bells found on English 'Lantern Clocks'of that period. I believe the original harsh bells were replaced with these quiet ones to maintain the tranquility of the household where it was used. The clock's single hand divides the hours and minutes making two hands unnecessary. Single-handed clocks were quite common in the early days of clockmaking. The mechanism is powered by two cast iron weights suspended by ropes which are pulled up once a day to rewind the mechanism. The attractive wooden shelf or bracket on which the clock rests was custom-made at a later date to hold the clock. This is the oldest clock that we have in our current inventory...having been made even before the United States came into existence!! It will create an elegant display in its new owner's home...and at a price which will surprise everyone familiar with the usual cost of these scarce 18th Century clocks.
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