Hello Karen,
Thank you for sending in your mantel clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall help you with that today.
TITLE:
Architectural, black marble, two barrel springs, eight day time and hour/half hour striking on Cathedral coiled metal gong, Basilica style mantel clock, signed on the movement (not legible to me in photo), made in France, circa 1890.
PROVENANCE:
I have been told it was a captain’s mantle clock from the late 19th or early 20th century
DESCRIPTION:
CASE: 43cm x 43cm x 15cm Black marble mantel clock constructed in an architectural form and representing a cathedral with a Basilica type rounded neo-classical black marble dome at the top. The dome has a small fountain finial above and a circumferential frieze around the base of the dome which features a crenelated top and figures in base relief of cherubs at work and at play. The dome rests on a rectilinear black marble platform with a horizontally beaded façade. This is flanked by two full depth, canted black marble rhomboid blocks with incised foliate ornaments on their facades. Below is the tympanum of the clock case which includes a horizontally aligned frieze of base relief black marble carvings in the Greco-Roman tradition of adults at work, study and play. Flanking the pediment and the tympanum are concave shaped black corbels leading out to full depth rectangular plinths with small urn and spire black finials at the front of the case. All rest on a flat cornice above the main façade which is square black marble and thrust forward in the architectural manner, centering a glazed and beaded brass dial bezel. The dial is flanked by stop fluted black marble colonnettes with Ionic capitals and ornate rosette bases with facial mask plinths supporting each pillar and placed slightly forward of the dial façade. To either side of the case façade are two recessed mirrored porticos, each with two vertically fluted black marble Ionic pillars. Belo there is a flat canted moulding divided into three sections by the colonnettes on the façade and leading down to a broad black marble base sitting flat to the surface. The back of the case is flat with no carvings and contains a round ebonized brass fenestrated door backed by cloth, which provides access to the movement compartment. The openings in the back door allow the striking to be better heard inside the room.
DIAL: Round repousse brass two part dial with black enameled Arabic hours in circular cartouche form, a recessed round dial center filled with brass open grille-work in rococo format and gilt French “Simple-Roman” hands. There is an Achille Brocot aperture and arbor placed at the twelve position for altering the speed of the movement from the dial side. There are two winding arbors for the movement springs and the dial is unsigned.
MOVEMENT: Round solid brass plate movement, brass tubular pillars connect the plates and are pinned at the back plate, anchor escapement, steel cut pinions, and two-barrel springs power the clock for eight days and cause striking on the coiled cathedral gong on the hour and half hour. At the base of the rear brass plate is the medallion of the clockmaker, illegible in these photos, but likely marked with the deal won at an exhibition and the name of the maker. I will identify it for you if you can send me a high grade photo of the medallion. Although the movement appears to be made circa 1880-1900 the date on the medallion can be much earlier and is used as a form of advertisement for the clockmaker. A short pendulum rod and bob hangs by two claws to the Brocot type of pendulum spring suspension from the upper end of the back plate.
CONDITION:
CASE – Most of the original gilding on this case has worn off. There is wear, speckling, scuffs and scratches with pitting throughout the case, but most evident to me on the dome. Chips along some of the edges can be seen. Areas of the black marble are discolored, lighter and darker patches. Good condition for its age.
DIAL – Generally in very good condition with some mild areas slightly discolored.
MOVEMENT – Signed and in good condition but currently not functioning.
HISTORY:
~MARBLE CASE CLOCKS:
Although marble and onyx had always been popular on the continent of Europe by the mid-19th century there was a widespread desire and vogue for these materials in mantel clocks. By midcentury, factory methods increased the production of clock movements geometrically and the development of the mechanical saw made it possible for thin sheets of marble to be cut in large quantities to house these clock movements. At the same time in France there was a great demand for ebonized furniture. The prolonged appeal of this style of case may be related to the loss of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, along with the neoclassical furniture shown at the Paris Exposition of 1867.
Frequently the term "French marble" is actually, to be perfectly accurate, "Belgian limestone". The Ardennes district of Belgium possesses large deposits of a hard limestone with a great variety of colors. So the term marble is a general term mostly referring to the mined stone from Belgian quarries and transported the short distance to French factories. Some of the "marble" cases were also made of slate (found in the north of Wales) and from marble quarries in Derbyshire. Eventually most "marble" cases were made by large numbers of workers employed in Belgium and France simply because their workmanship was superior to any of the mined stone in the U.K or any other European countries. Their work was specialized and done far less expensively than found anywhere else.
The French marble cases are made in several parts, some solid, some hollow. The thin slabs of marble are glued to a cement carcass, and sometimes a wooden base. Sometimes a zinc tube encloses the movement to prevent dust entering it from the interior of the case. The majority of black Belgian marble cases house either French or German movements.
COMPARABLES:
~ https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/93886947_french-mantel-clock-with-two-decorative-elements (Sold for $360 in 2020)
~ https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/95425202_victorian-19th-century-antique-marble-mantel-clock (Much simpler design but sold for $100)
~ https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/93162285_ansonia-black-marble-mantel-clock (This is an Ansonia mantel clock copy of the French design that sold for $250 in 2020)
~ https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/30021679_napoleon-iii-black-marble-mantel-clock (This clock sold in 2014 for $125, not as complex as your example but structured along the same lines)
PRICING:
After reviewing the comparables and the condition of your very interesting mantel clock, I believe the fair market of your French clock, albeit not working (probably just needs a cleaning), to be in the range of $450-$600, since it is a signed and thoroughly original piece. Retail value would be in the range of twice that amount.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for you appraisal.
My best,
David