Drocourt, Paris, a grande-sonnerie carriage clock the eight-...

Hammer

£1,700

Drocourt, Paris, a grande-sonnerie carriage clock the eight-day duration movement having a silvered platform lever escapement striking the grande-sonnerie quarters on two gongs, sounding the hour plus ting-tang quarters at each quarter, with a button to repeat the last sequence at will and a lever to the underside to allow for Grande-Sonnerie/Petite-Sonnerie or Silent, petite-sonnerie being the quarters without the hour at each quarter, the backplate stamped with the Drocourt trademark along with the serial number 19101, with the gong block stamped F.D. for the gong maker Drury, the gilded masked dial having black Roman numerals and signed Drocourt, 28, Rue Debelleyme, Paris, with interestingly the number 28 struck out and replaced with the number 31 with an additional 31 at the end to balance out the wording, with blued steel spade hands, the silvered and gilded bambu case having an engraved plaque to the underside with a repeat of the 28, Rue Debelleyme address, and where again the number 28 has been struck through with tramlines and replaced with a well engraved number 31, the original leather travelling box is embossed within the lid with gilded details showing the address for Drocourt as 31, Rue Debelleyme and referring to the award of the Hors Concours at the Paris Exposition of 1900, Alfred Drocourt was not able to receive an actual exhibitor's medal at this exhibition as he was a member of the Classe 96 horological jury. Notes: That this striking-out of the original street number was not a one-off is indicated by another grande-sonnerie sold by Christies Auctioneers in 1998 as part of the well-known Dr Eugene & Rose Antelis Collection, with Drocourt serial number 34831 shown to have the 28 removed from the address on the ivory dial, as well as also having it struck through on the engraved plaque to the underside of the base to make the street number replacement in an identical fashion. Another example is serial number 28978 which has the address on the dial as 28, Rue Debelleyme, but is fitted in an original travelling box that has the same embossed detail as shown on this example with the address shown as number 31. Notes: For further research details of Pierre and Alfred Drocourt see the exhibition catalogue Leigh Extence Pierre & Alfred Drocourt, An Exhibition of Carriage Clocks, November 2014.