French Carriage Clocks: An Expert Guide
In a blog article from earlier this year, Expert Guide to Antique French Clocks, I gave a general overview of the different types of antique French clocks that one might encounter. This article aims to focus on just one – the French carriage clock.
The ubiquitous French carriage clock of the late 19th/early 20th centuries is a clock that most would immediately recognise. Its small statuette, white enamel dial and glazed brass case is an instantly discernible style.
They are one of the most extensively produced and collected of all antique clocks. These small spring-driven clocks were designed to be portable with a carrying handle to the top, while most originally came in a fitted leather outer travelling case, also with handle.
They were manufactured in a vast array of styles, with most examples made in the second half of the 19th century being exported to Britain for sale.
While many French carriage clocks don’t bear maker’s marks, all had a serial number, usually stamped to the backplate of the movement. Where maker’s records exist, these numbers can be useful in determining a date and origin of manufacture.
However, only by familiarising oneself with the varied styles, understanding the different and evolving methods of construction, and knowing some history behind it all can one begin to more acuratly form a definitive picture, and date, of these unique clocks.
Like all good stories though these fascinating clocks have an origin:
The First Spring-Driven Clocks
Many would assume that the earliest clocks must have had pendulums with weight driven movements, however this was not the case. While the use of pendulums were certainly hypothesised by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Galileo (1564-1642) it wasn’t until 1657 that Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) developed the use of a pendulum as a successful regulating mechanism in clocks.
The earliest recorded weight-driven mechanical clock was installed in 1283 at Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire, England. This clock had a verge escapement, which drove a foliot, a primitive type of balance wheel. The verge escapement dates from 13th-century Europe, where its invention led to the development of the first all-mechanical clocks. The only purpose of the Dunstable Priory clock was to strike a bell at regular times to call the canons to their prayer duties.
For centuries after the invention of the mechanical clock, the periodic tolling of the bell in the town church or clock tower was enough to demarcate the day for most people. By the 15th century however, a growing number of clocks were being made for domestic use. Those who could afford the luxury of owning a clock found it convenient to have one that could be moved from place to place. Of course having a clock powered by weights was not practical for portability and the use of a mainspring for power was developed.
No one knows for certain either the date or origin of the first spring-driven clocks, however evidence points to Northern Italy. The oldest surviving clock powered by a mainspring is the Burgunderuhr, or Burgundy Clock, an ornate, gilt chamber clock, currently at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, whose iconography suggests that it was made circa 1430 for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
A letter, written in 1482, by an engineer called Comino de Pontevico refers to “…a ribbon of tempered steel fastened in a brass barrel round which is wound a gut line …. so that it has to pull the fusee”. Not only is this a very early reference to a mainspring but also to a fusee.
A problem with spring-driven clocks, and watches, is that the force, or torque, provided by a spring is not constant, but diminishes as the spring releases power. However, timepieces have to run at a constant rate in order to keep accurate time. Timekeeping mechanisms are never perfectly isochronous, meaning their rate is affected by changes in the drive force. This was especially true of the primitive verge and foliot type escapement used before the advent of the balance-spring in the 17th century. So early clocks slowed down during their running period as the mainspring ran down, causing inaccurate timekeeping. Invented by an unknown mechanical genius probably between 1400 and 1450, the fusee appeared in spring-driven clocks to supply constant power to the movement.
As soon as a going mainspring was used for power, instead of weights, it then became a potential travel clock. The earliest recorded reference to a travelling clock is one that is purported to have been made for King Louis XI of France (1423-1483). The king is said to have carried the clock with him wherever he travelled, which was small enough to be hidden in the sleeve of a garment.
From the late 15th century spring-driven clocks from Italy, Nuremberg, Prague, Augsburg and France began to appear on the market. Many had fitted travelling cases and began to feature such complications as separate alarm attachments.
In the 17th century coach watches, or montres de carrosse, began to appear both in England and France, which took the form of large pocket watches. Their dials often measuring between 5 and 6 inches, they featured alarms and later many had pull-repeats intended for use in the dark.
None of these early clocks kept good time however, and as mentioned above, it wasn’t until the invention, and application, of the balance-spring that these clocks were finally able to function as accurate timekeepers. The balance-spring was developed independently in Holland by Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), and in England by Robert Hooke (1635-1703) from 1658, if not earlier. For more than two hundred years prior they only featured hour hands as there was no point in trying to show minutes on such an inaccurate device.
The importance of the balance-spring to the accuracy of timekeeping cannot be overstated. It was a complete game changer to both clocks and watches. Suddenly devices that couldn’t be trusted became capable of keeping time to within perhaps less than five minutes over a period of twenty-four hours.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, coach watches started to become more and more practical. Many pieces became so elaborate, and complicated, that they were probably never intended for travel. Rather they became a tours de force of the watchmakers art.
In England, coach watches were overlapped in the period just after 1700 by small travelling bracket type clocks. Most were made in the form of scale models of the full-sized wooden-cased domestic clocks of the day. Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), the Father of English clockmaking, is known to have made three such clocks.
The early years of the 18th century saw another type of travelling clock appear in England. A fine example by J Paulet can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Continental in style, they tend to be about 10 inches in height and have cases in gilt metal or silver with break-arch tops.
In both England and France, from the middle of the 18th century the gradual evolution of the marine chronometer could be regarded as a particular aspect in the development of portable clocks.
From about 1775, a number of small attractive travelling clocks began to appear in France. These pieces are usually called pendules d’officier, with one type variously styled Capucine, Foncine or lanterne d’ecurie. Pendules d’officier are purported to have been taken on campaigns, and no doubt sometimes were. However, as the style became popular, many were also made for the domestic market.
As the subject is vast, much more could be written about the various origins of portable clocks but this gives a basic outline to the precursors of carriage clocks.
Early French Carriage Clocks
No introduction to French carriage clocks is complete without mention of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) who is credited with developing the first carriage clock for Napoleon I (1769-1821). However it was more an evolution in style rather than an invention as the pendule d’officier already existed in its developed form.
Breguet seemed to realise that there was a market for a practical travelling clock, or pendules de voyage, together with striking, alarm and calendar. It is not really fair to compare these clocks to later French carriage clocks by other makers. They were always hugely expensive and complicated, often made to special order. Together with being the first pendules de voyage made, they were also the very best ever made in France.
Breguet’s son, Louis-Antoine joined him as partner in the business in about 1807. After Abraham-Louis’ death in 1823, his son and then grandson carried on the business until 1880. In that year Edward Brown, an Englishman took over the business and was run by the Brown family until 1970.
Breguet et Fils continued to produce the finest of French carriage clocks throughout the 19th century and their output represents the very best examples of these clocks.
The first production, or semi-mass-produced, carriage clocks were made in Paris by Paul Garnier (1801-1869). An account found in Volume I of the Revue Chronométrique, December 1855 reads: “We waited to see M. Paul Garnier receive his award, and even if his exhibits do not appear impressive at first sight, it is none the less true that M. Garnier is the creator of the Parisian carriage clock industry”. Garnier was able to grow this carriage clock industry from the development of a simple basic design used in conjunction with the escapement that he had obtained a patent, or brevet, for in 1830.
By the 1837 Paris Exposition Universelle, Paul Garnier exhibited a wide selection of carriage clocks, receiving a Silver Medal for his enterprise. Garnier’s place in the history of the carriage clock rests upon the ingenuity of his simple initial design, together with an inexpensive frictional rest escapement. Introduced at a time when travelling clocks were not common, complicated and expensive.
Garnier’s design was another breakthrough in the continuing development of travel clocks and made the pendule de voyage as affordable as the ordinary domestic mantle clock. His early clocks were as plain as Breguet’s were elaborate. While they looked straightforward and unassuming they were in fact beautifully made and thoughtfully designed.
Other notable early carriage clock manufactures were Leroy, Raingo, Campbell, Berolla, Lepine, Bolviller, Auguste, Jules and Beguin.
Later French Carriage Clocks
It may have been possible to buy a French carriage clock in London as early as 1830, however the peak output of these clocks was not reached until another sixty years or so in the late Victorian period. The The Cobden-Chevalier Treaty of 1860 between Great Britain and France saw clocks, among other items, be exported in great quantity free of tariffs. Britain became a principal market of French clocks. The era of the French carriage clock can be regarded as around 1830-1930, and at their best exhibit the highest quality ever attained in mass produced clocks.
The forty years following 1815, and the Battle of Waterloo, saw a period of great social change without precedent in Britain. The twenty years of war with France was over, the Industrial Revolution was fully underway with an ever burgeoning middle class with money to spend. The stage coach system seemed to rise almost overnight and was then just as quickly was ousted by the railway network. It was the perfect environment to sell carriage clocks in England. However the height of manufacture was only reached in 1889 the year of the Paris Exposition Universelle.
The Revue Chronométrique speaking of carriage clocks at the Exhibition refers to “…the craze for these elegant objects”, and “…an indispensable part of the luggage of any self-respecting traveller”.
The French carriage clock industry of 1889 was remarkably well organised and an English clockmaker called T. D. Wright, travelling in France, noted that he assumed to see large industrial factories in Paris. However the reality was far different. Paris was promoted as being the centre of French clockmaking but very few clocks of any kind were actually made in their entirety there.
Instead, two small country areas, at the opposite ends of France, supplied Paris with semi-completed clocks to be finished as the “maker” chose. The rough movements were known as blancs-roulants. The first of the two rival sources of supply was the small town of Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont in the Seine-Maritime near Dieppe.
The second was in the Jura region of the Franche-Comté, near Montbéliard, close to the border of Switzerland. Here the main producer was the large Japy factory in the village of Badevel. The roulants from both areas were supplied to the trade with external striking and repeating work.
Mostly, the Saint-Nicolas blancs were of better quality, looking less machine made than those produced in the Jura. The platform escapements and all of the parts required to make up platform assemblies, such as cylinder or lever escape wheels, pallets, levers and rollers came from manufacturers around Montbéliard, Morteau and along the French-Swiss border, with a few factories actually being in Switzerland. The firm of L’Epee, which still produces clocks today, was a typical supplier of escapements or porte-échappements.
Mainsprings came from many sources such as the large concern of Montandon Fères, or the smaller Ducommon. Cutters for the wheels and pinions of the blanc-roulants were available from Louis Carpano at Cluses, though many factories made their own.
Smaller parts such as the blued steel hands were sourced from home workers. There were several specialist dial makers in Paris, as well as casemakers, while Japy and some of the other Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont makers produced their own cases and dials.
The Paris “makers” had the task of finishing the blanc-roulants and completing the clocks with the supplied cases, dials, hands, etc. as they saw fit.
As the manufacture of French carriage clocks became established the above procedure become the standard of production. This was not to stay that a Paris pendule de voyage that was produced from a blanc-roulant was in anyway inferior. The roulants were made to a high standard and could be finished to any high quality required. In the case of the top makers those standards were very high indeed.
The vast majority of all French carriage clocks made in the last half of the 19th century can trace their beginnings back to Saint-Nicolas.
Case Styles of Standard French Carriage Clocks
As with all areas of clocks, carriage clocks have a wide variety of styles and shapes of cases. The early carriage clocks by Breguet have an instantly recognisable form all of their own.
However once the industry of carriage clocks was in full swing it largely conformed to a number of conventions in regards to shapes and sizes of cases, as well as movements.
The one-piece is the earliest standard type of brass and glass case, and were made in sizes from about four and half to six and three quarter inches high. They take their name from the fact that the mitred and slotted brass sections which make up the glazed frame are pinned and brazed to form one rigid unit. This is then screwed to a cast brass base, which also serves to retain the glass panels in their slots. The one-piece case, by virtue of its rigidity, was a superior construction of anything that followed. However, it had two drawbacks. The first being that it was more expensive to produce and the second was that it restricted the variation of design that could be conceived.
By those disadvantages the one-piece case was soon abandoned in favour of the multi-piece case, which gradually superseded it. At first it was quite similar in appearance to the one-piece case before evolving into a great many shapes and sizes.
The multi-piece case is considerably different in appearance to those of the older one-piece variety, except for the earliest versions. In general, the earlier the case, the larger area of glass it will have. This fact, in conjunction with other features of course, can provide a valuable insight to date of manufacture.
The multi-piece case is assembled from a combination of brass castings and pressings held together by screws. The four vertical columns have milled slots to accommodate the bevelled glass panels, which are in turn held in position by the cases top plate. The door(s) are hinged on pins, both top and bottom.
This basic shape, and construction, is found in all carriage clocks made from the mid 19th century onwards. While the best multi-piece cases are of the highest quality, some of the cheaper ones are less satisfactory with poorly aligned cases. This cheaper, and more flexible, design offered new, and previously undreamed of, variations for design.
The amount of patterns that evolved between the various makers was large. However most concerns followed a basic range of around ten shapes. The following is a brief description of the later multi-case shapes:
Obis (short for Zéro bis or double zero)
This was the most inexpensive case produced, and thus the most commonly encountered nowadays. Its plain case did not become current until the late 19th century and was produced in large, inexpensive quantities. It is the quintessential standard carriage clock shape, being the core product in the line of manufacturers.
It was made in a standard size of five and a half inches high (with handle up) with a plain design with no decoration at all. Only relieved by a two-cut handle and simple moulding around the top. The dials are almost always white enamel, while the movements were timepieces only, sometimes with alarm. To save expense, the dials were pinned directly to the front plate of the movement without the use of false plates.
Corniche
Another case firmly belonging to the mass production era. While similar to the Obis it tends to be of better quality with a more elaborate moulding, or corniche, at the top. The Corniche generally came in three sizes from six to 7 inches often offering striking work with repeat. Some even had petite or grande sonnerie striking.
In contrast to the Obis, the Corniche almost always has, behind the dial, a false plate joined to the front movement plate by four feet. This refinement, normally found in all types of carriage clocks except the Obis, leaves room for motion and striking work outside the plates. It also gives the clock greater depth.
Corniche Carrée (square corniche)
A variant of the Corniche being more squat in appearance and often having a more bolder, easily read dial. Dating from around 1890 onwards it was a speciality of several Saint-Nicolas manufacturers.
Gorge(grooved)
In use by the 1860’s until after 1900. In contrast to the Obis, the gorge case was only used for the very best examples of carriage clocks by the likes of Jacot and Leroy. The base and pillars are deeply grooved, while the top is built in tiers of convex and concave mouldings.
The base is slightly concave at the corners and the typical handle is moulded in a rippled five division pattern. They were produced in at least five different sizes and were always of very high quality. The dials were usually of white enamel, though some had silvered or gilt engine turned dials. They are often gilded with engraving.
Cannelée (fluted)
Similar to the gorge, the cannelée has a harder top profile though, and usually a handle moulded in three divisions.
It was produced in much smaller quantities than the gorge from about 1885 and was also used by the best Paris makers, housing fine movements.
Oval
Introduced during the second half of the 19th century they are usually found in three sizes. They appear in considerable variety, often engraved, sometimes repoussé, as well as with porcelain or cloisonné enamel panels.
True oval cases have their shaped glasses set in fabricated bezels, which are held in place by pins top and bottom. The one drawback to oval cases is that it can make reading the time awkward at a diagonal distance.
Anglaise(English)
Introduced in about 1880 this case style is typically found in three sizes. The handle, top, pillars and base are all squared resulting in a quite severe style. The French believed that this plain style would appeal to more austere English tastes, even though almost all French carriage clocks were available for sale in Britain anyway.
Pillars
Pillared cases dated back to the early carriage clocks of the 19th century with Breguet’s Empire style cases. However the new pillared style was produced in great quantities from about 1860.
These cases were not only made in many sizes, from miniature upwards, but also in a huge variety of designs, often based on classical designs with architectural tops. The pillars ranged vastly in deign from realistic bamboo to classical Corinthian to elaborate free standing columns. While the dials can be plain enamel they can also be elaborate painted porcelain to compliment their ornate cases.
Louis XV Doucine (serpentine shape)
Introduced shortly before 1900, this shape is defined by its top and bottom sections having a distinctive ogee, or serpentine shape, sometimes with decorative friezes. They were a speciality of the makers Duverdrey & Bloquel and could house inexpensive Obis movements to expensive, high quality ones.
Cariatides (caryatides)
Cariatides cases could be called a more elaborate version of the pillared case. The name is derived from Greek and means a column in the form of a sculptural upper half of a female figure. They form the corners of the clock, either complete or tapering away.
More rarely, corresponding male figures are seen, called Atlantes (Atlas) or Telemones. Like pillared clocks, Cariatides were made in wide variety of styles and sizes, and were used mostly by best Paris makers.
Oblong
Produced in large quantities after 1900, this shape was the speciality of Couaillet Frères of Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont. They only came in one size, being four and a half inches high and three and a half inches wide.
The movements are timepieces only, though a few had alarms. The sides and back door were usually solid brass instead of the more common bevelled glass panels.
Cubique (cubic)
As the name suggests this was a cubed shaped clock and another speciality of Couaillet Fères appearing around the same time as the Oblong as a timepiece only.
Borne (humpbacked)
First used by Breguet, circa 1813, this shape became a speciality of Adolphe Ollier of Paris after 1900. They normally have arched tops with a large carry handle, and silvered engine turned dials.
Ollier sold the borne as a timepiece only, with or without an alarm. Duverdrey & Bloquel offered a flat topped version.
Other Distinctive Styles
There are a number of carriage clocks that don’t easily fall into any one of the basic shapes mentioned above but are worth mentioning. They are:
Bambu (bamboo) – a distinctive style that copied the bamboo furniture that was so in vogue in the late 19th century.
Art Nouveau – this form of carriage clock was first shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1900.
Boîte Chinoise (Chinese style or Pagoda topped) – a speciality of Duverdrey & Bloquel, these clocks showed a distance Chinese influenced style.
Rococo (Baroque) – as the name would suggest these cases are elaborate and highly exaggerated in design.
Ivory cases – these small clocks were probably primarily made for dressing case or table sets.
Square cases in silver or pewter – these small early 20th century clocks often have cases made from English hallmarked silver or Liberty & Co. pewter cases with imported French movements.
Decorative Panels
While the standard brass French carriage clock of the second half of the 19th century, and early 20th century normally has bevelled glass panels a great variety of artistic variations were offered in the form of decorative side panels:
Cloisonné enamel – brightly coloured enamel fired into compartments, separated by thin metal divisions that originated in the Far East.
Limoges enamel – a rare enamel found in clocks from the Limoges factory that often included the dial as well as the panels.
Guilloche enamel (flinqué) – this refers to coloured, translucent enamel, fire over a metal object previously decorated with engine turning or other engraved design.
Porcelain panels – as the name suggests these clocks feature finely painted porcelain panels, often in bright colours with elaborate, ornate designs.
Chinoiserie panels on Copper – enamelled panels reflecting a distinct Chinese influenced artistic style.
Shibyama panels – a distinct artistic style of Japanese influence normally involving the use of applied Mother-of-Pearl and other semi-hard vividly coloured materials.
Marble panels – this is rarely encountered on carriage clocks but worth mentioning nevertheless. Some examples exist showing panels of Italian origin in the Florentine pietra dura tradition, which uses highly polished coloured stones, inlaid to form a naturalistic image.
Carriage Clock Sizes
As carriage clock manufacture began to take off in the mid 19th century manufactures tended to stick to a few standard sizes in the interest of economy. Towards the end of the century though, when demand was at its highest, there were many exceptions.
However, French carriage clocks can be divided into three size divisions: miniatures, full-size and giants.
Miniature Carriage Clocks (Mignonnettes or little darlings)
There were three standard sizes of miniature carriage clock: Mignonnette No.1 (three and three quarters inches high with handle up); Mignonnette No. 2 (four inches high); and Mignonnette No. 3 (four and a quarter inches high).
Almost every full-sized carriage clock style was represented in miniature.
Full-Sized Carriage Clocks
The term full-sized covers the vast majority of carriage clocks that were made, that ranged from five and a half inches high up to seven inches high.
Full-sized cases in common use were the Calibre No. 1 (six inches high); Calibre No. 2 (six and a half inches high); and Calibre No. 3 (seven inches tall)
Giants
Known as giants, very large carriage clocks were uncommon in France, and as such not many were manufactured. When they are found the size tends to been around nine inches high, with handle up.
Rarer French Carriage Clocks
The above section discussed the more standard type of carriage clock, at least in terms of their movements, which were timepieces with a spring-driven going barrel with either a lever or cylinder platform escapement.
The rarer iteration of the French carriage clock tends to have extra complications like a striking train, alarm, calendar work, digital dials and so on:
Striking Work
The earliest ordinary carriages clocks tended to all strike the hours and half-hours, but as it makes the clock more expensive it was done away with as carriage clocks became more mass produced.
Nevertheless it was a widely offered extra option but tends to be only found on the better quality clocks. The types of striking found can be divided up into the following:
Hour and half-hour striking – this was the most common form of striking. The clock strikes out the hour count at each passing, as well as a single strike for the half-hour, usually on a single bell or gong.
Petite sonnerie – quarter striking trains tend only to be found in good quality carriage clocks. At each hour petite sonnerie clocks strike the hour on one bell, or gong, of a low note. At a quarter past the hour they strike one double note, ting-tang; at half past, two ting-tangs; at a quarter to the hour, three ting-tangs. The tings are sounded on a bell, or gong, of a higher pitch. These clocks normally also feature a repeat.
Grande sonnerie – at each hour this clocks strikes the hour only. At each quarter it strikes first the last hour and then the appropriate ting-tang quarter or quarters. Grande sonnerie clocks, as well as petit sonnerie, can normally be silenced by a small lever under the base. The striking can also be reduced to petit.
Half-hour sonnerie – these strike full grande sonnerie in passing, but only at the hour and half-hour, and not the quarters.
Westminster quarters – these are uncommon and are a more expensive variant of grande and petit sonnerie. They will strike the quarters, each with increasing duration, on a series of graded bells, or gongs. The hour will be struck out on a single separate bell, or gong.
Five-minute repeaters – a rare and much prized feature by collectors. This strikes the hours and then the number of five-minute periods since the hour. It uses a low tone for the hours and a high tone for the minutes on either a bell or gong.
Minute repeater – these combine conventional grande sonnerie striking with minute repetition. When the repeat button is pressed, the clock begins by striking the last hour, then it sounds the last quarter, and finally the last number of minutes elapsed are rapidly struck out since the last quarter.
Double strike – this was a common feature on clocks across the Continent but it is very rarely encountered on a carriage clock. This strikes twice on each hour, once at the actual hour and then again two minutes later.
Ship’s bell strike – these clocks were made to be used at sea and strike nautical hours on two bells.
Alarm Work
The fact that carriage clocks were meant to be taken on journeys and often moved about the house, from bedroom to downstairs, determined a natural environment for an alarm feature. Even though it was an extra it can be found on all models of carriage clocks from the most inexpensive to ones of the highest quality.
Calendar Work
As with alarms having a calendar feature was handy, particularly on ones travels. This was not a feature found at the lower end of carriage clocks and tends to only be on clocks of higher quality.
Other features such as moon phases, barometers and thermometers often feature with calendar work.
Digital Dials
Instead of the traditional static dial, bearing either Roman or Arabic numerals, digital dials have an aperture that will reveal the hours and minutes via a revolving platform behind the dial.
The above are the more commonly found, rarer features on carriage clocks. There are many others however, such two-dial and four-dial clocks, year going movements, unusual escapements, tourbillons and karrusels, automatons and musical features.
When it comes to horology the variation is always vast and one can never say that something was never done, or equally something was always done, because the exception will always come along to prove one wrong.
French Carriage clocks are no exception in this generalisation and it is hoped that this short overview will give insight into these fascinating clocks.
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