A Fine and Rare Victorian parcel-gilt bronze four-glass quarter striking giant carriage clock Signed Alexander Guillaume, London, No. 861, probably McCabe workshops or associatesCirca 1855The case surmounted with a shaped handle above a bevelled glass panel, stepped pediment, above bevelled glass sides and glazed dial, with canted angles, mounted with cast foliage, on a stepped plinth cast with scrolls and foliage, bronze lift-out back with shuttered winding apertures, hand set and platform regulation, the arched gilt brass dial engraved all over with foliage, Roman numerals and inset seconds subsidiary at the XII, trefoil hour hand, inscribed in a reserve below the VI ALEXR GUILLAUME LONDON 861, the high-quality twin train chain fusée movement with maintaining power, high-grade platform lever escapement with cut bi-metallic compensated balance, exceptional vase-shaped pillars with finely-turned fins, quarter striking on two blued steel gongs; on a carved oak breakfront plinth The clock: 28cm highPROVENANCE:A Hampshire family, since the mid-19th centuryBy descentThe property of a gentlemanBy descent to the current vendorThis clock was no doubt commissioned by Louis-Alexander Guillaume, acting as agent for a retail client. He is known primarily as a watchmaker. A native of Neuchatel, Switzerland, he came to London in 1835 and is recorded at 24 Spencer Street, Northampton Square, Clerkenwell. He died on 10 January 1873, in his 60th year (see The Horological Journal, March 1873, p. 84). An identical clock, signed Klaftenberger, 157 Regent Street, London, also with quarter striking movement and high-grade platform lever escapement, was advertised in the Antiquarian Horological Journal, June 1983, p. 119. It is also illustrated in Derek Roberts, Carriage and Other Travelling Clocks, Atglen 1993, p. 345, fig. 23-26.The fashion for large bronze and gilt carriage clocks during the mid-19th century was satisfied by McCabe, Dent and latterly Frodsham. Their design, quality and execution were of the utmost quality and no doubt a status symbol for clientele. Comparison can be made to signed pieces by McCabe, such as No. 2833 (sold Christie's, London, 18 November 2010, lot 101), which has the distinctive shaped handle, albeit with fluting. The Guillaume clock, with its shallow arch for the dial, with the inset seconds at the XII, all within the most superbly engraved foliate design and flanked by the distictive canted angles, would support production from the same workshop. Another quarter striking clock by McCabe 2927 (sold Bonhams, London, 11 December 2013, lot 106) has a sumptous finely-chased gilt bronze case. The handle is of the same pattern, with the faceted centre part and twin double rings. The stepped moulding to the rectangular pediment, especially the overhang, is identical. McCabe's canted angles have a shaped 'claw' at the top, whilst the base is finished with a scrolled volute. The Guillaume clock includes the same canted angles, with the addition of a rosette and deeply-chased pendant flowers to each angle, all supported on a gilt bronze foliate-chased scrolling plinth. McCabe is not known to have diverged from his use of lever escapements for these 'travelling' clocks as chronometer escapements would be more susceptible to damage.The virtuosity of the engraving found on these giant carriage clocks, as well as clocks by Thomas Cole, are related and point to a vibrant school of talented engravers in London.
