11,210 CHF
“Mysterieuse” Attributed to Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, Paris, retailed by Promoli et Hausbourg a Paris. Made circa 1865. Fine and rare, glass-dialed, gilded bronze, eight-day going, hour and half-hour striking mystery clock. Top with Y-shaped frame holding the dial raised on a foliate pedestal decorated with applied ormolu scrolling, waisted pedestal with cast foliate and scroll mounts and female mask in the center, the whole standing on gessoed gilt wood and ebonised base. Glass with painted radial Roman numerals, inner five-minute and quarter-hour track. Single gilt arrow hand. Brass, Paris type, going barrels, anchor escapement, silk suspension, pendulum with brass bob, count wheel set on the back plate, striking the hours and half-hours on an underslung bell. Dim. Height 47 cm, width 18.5 cm. Property of an Swiss collector Notes Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805 - 1871) was an inventor, horologist and the most famous magician of his day. His father, a watchmaker, wanted his son to enter the legal profession, but Jean Eugene's passion for horology clearly outweighed his interest in law. After his father’s retirement, his business was taken over by Jean Eugene's cousin, Jean Martin Robert, for whom he went to work. In 1830, Jean Eugene married Josephe Cécile Eglantine Houdin, the daughter of Jacques- Francois Houdin, an eminent horologist and pupil of Breguet. After the marriage, Jean Eugene Robert changed his name to Robert-Houdin. Robert-Houdin invented several new
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2007-05-13
