Hello Gregory,
Thank you for sending your French figural mantel clock into mearto.com for an appraisal. I hope I can help you with that today. . .
TITLE:
Dore bronze, two train, spring driven, eight day time and half hourly striking, figural mantel clock, "The Gardener, made by the firm of Japy Freres, Beaucourt, France, circa 1840s.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: (Size not provided) This is a Dore bronze figural mantel clock with a gilt bronzed male figure, in casual attire, sitting atop the canister of the clock, obviously in the process of planting a potted plant with a garden shovel in his left hand. He is in a pensive pose with his right hand supporting his head, his elbow resting on his knee. There is a reeded and beaded gilt dial bezel and the clock canister is surrounded by foliate and floral shapes. Below is the broad gilt base, the upper section filled with swirls and flourishes, shells, medallions, acanthus leaves and bell flowers. The lower half of the base is bisected vertically by a floral ornament with geometric tufting to either side and all rest on curled acanthus leaf feet.
Dial: This is a round silvered metal dial with bar minute ring, NO Brocot aperture @12 (Came into common usage in France post 1850, although patented in 1841), two fenestrated rococo Louis XVth style hands, and above the six what I believe is the name and address of the retailer of the clock (quite illegible in these photos). . .
Movement: Round solid brass plate movement connected with tubular pillars which are pinned at the back plate, anchor escapement, steel cut pinions, steel arbors, an outside countwheel(for striking). I do not see a pendulum spring but this appears to be a silk thread suspension without the silk in place, a type of suspension used prior to 1850. A thin metal pendulum rod would hang from this thread. A short pendulum rod with attached brass bob would hang from the silk thread and swing behind the movement, mostly hidden by the bell when it was in place. The movement is spring powered, of eight day duration and striking a silvered bell on the hour and half hour. The movement carries a Medaille D'Or for a Brevete (patent) and is signed in the middle, "Japy Freres". {Apparently the name of Japy Freres & Company or Japy Freres & Cie was NOT used prior to 1854. Prior to that year only ‘Japy Freres’ was used. In addition, MEDAILLES D'OR or gold medals were awarded to "Japy Freres" for some of their patents in 1823, 1827, 1834, 1839, 1844 and 1849. Japy Freres had a multitude of machine made patents for clocks and these were the source of all the gold medals given for patents, which are not often seen today. In fact, following 1851, I am having trouble finding any Gold medals awarded to the company, at least up through 1928.} So we have a signed movement dating before 1850, silk thread suspension and no Brocot aperture. All of this leads me to date the styling of the figural clock to the 1840s era when these genre scenes were made in great numbers. ...
Condition: Biggest problem is the darkening of the silvered dial from oxidation due to exposure to the air. There is some fading of the black Roman numerals, but the silver will continue to darken and I think you will only harm it if you try to do any restoration to the dial. I would leave it untouched. The case retains the original gilt Dore bronze and I will assume that there has been no repainting of the gilding. . . . .
It was my pleasure to be of service to you today.
My fair market appraisal is based on actual recent past comparable sales recorded at auctions of similar French figural clocks. The fair market value would range from $650-$750 (approximately) at auction today. They tend to retail in the $1200-$1500 range.. Retail "asking prices" can, of course, be significantly higher and vary.
Best regards,
David