Beautiful Ladies” Bourdin

“Beautiful Ladies” Bourdin, Hger Brevete, Rue de la Paix, 28, Paris, No. 285. Made circa 1880. Very fine and rare, gilt brass, 8-day going, hour and half-hour striking, hour repeating carriage clock with Sevres-style porcelain panels, double date calendar, seconds and alarm. Multi-piece, “corniche”, gilt brass, engraved with foliate scrolls and stiff-leaf decoration, the sides mounted with Sevres-style painted on porcelain panels depicting young ladies in classical and eastern dress within gilt and pale blue borders, the top panel with two cherubs playing amongst flowers, foliate engraved solid back door with shuttered winding holes, hinged and engraved handle. Sevres-style porcelain decorated with gilt and pale blue, radial Roman chapter ring, subsidiary seconds below 12, dials for the days of the week, date and alarm, the centers decorated with flower garlands. Blued steel “Breguet” hands. Gilt brass, rectangular plates, four cylindrical pillars secured by four screws, going barrels for both trains, straight-line lever escapement mounted on a frosted gilt platform, compensation balance, blued steel balance spring, index regulator, striking and repeating on a bell. Dial and case signed. Dim. 14 x 9 x 7.8 cm. Notes A. E. Bourdin Exhibited at the Paris Expositions, won a bronze medal in 1844, a silver in 1855 and bronze in 1867 for carriage clocks. The Tribune Chronometrique considered Bourdin’s pendules de voyage excellent in all their details, and very good timekeepers