£7,500
A rare mid 19th C French Mystery Clock (case and movement only) by Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) : A vase shaped patinated case, enhanced with an applied gilt figure supporting and concealing the link to worm screw wheels mounted within the outer arms of the case , behind the the back plate with a two train circular movement , the whole on a carved gilt wood base .
Height , the case 9 7/8" high , the whole 12 1/2" high x 7" wide
Born into a family of clock makers in 1805, young Jean Eugène was especially keen on the mechanical arts, particularly automatons and soon began an apprenticeship under his cousin Jean Martin Robert. Soon after, Jean Eugène began to work for Noriet, a prominent horologer in Tours when one day, a very ill Jean Eugène met the famous conjurer Giovanni Torrini. After moving to Paris to start a comedy company, Jean Eugène met his future wife, Josèphe Cécile Egaltine Houdin, a daughter of the famous horologer, Jacques-François Houdin, who was once under the tutelage of A.L. Breguet. After their marriage, Jean Eugène changed his last name to "Robert-Houdin," and with this change came a great rebirth for the artist whose career BLOSSOMED as both an illusionist, inventor and horologer
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