Hi Ronald,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

Yes, I think a date of circa 1875 is appropriate for this clock.

"Tagini Dijon" refers to the prominent 19th-century family of antique dealers, art experts, and clockmakers based in Dijon, France. Founded by Edme Tagini and his brother, the business was situated in the Palais des États de Bourgogne (now known as the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts).

Frédéric (or Edme) Tagini was a major supplier of art and antiques to prominent 19th-century collectors, notably Henri Pichot. He also acted as the principal expert appraiser for historic estate auctions in the Dijon area.

Mantel clocks like this were often part of a garniture, or matching decorative set intended to ornament a mantel, cabinet or table and would likely have been accompanied either by matching/flanking candlesticks/candelabra, urns or vases. Garniture were especially fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries in France and later throughout Europe and America. They reflected the Victorian and Belle Époque taste for symmetry and richly decorated interiors.

The Druout Gazette notes that André Romain Guilmet (1827–1892) was one of the most inventive and theatrical Parisian clockmakers of the late 19th century. He is best remembered for his extraordinary “mystery clocks” and animated novelty clocks that combined horology, illusion, sculpture, and mechanical engineering.

Guilmet worked during a period when Paris was fascinated by scientific spectacle, automata, magic acts, and optical illusion. Alongside figures like Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, he helped turn clocks into entertainment objects as much as practical timepieces. His mystery clocks created the illusion that pendulums moved without visible force or support. In some models, female figures appeared to suspend oscillating pendulums magically from their hands. The hidden mechanism transferred motion invisibly through the sculpture itself. Guilmet patented aspects of these mechanisms in 1867 and refined them later.

If the cherub finial seen here is a later replacement, that would devalue this clock, which I would otherwise expect this clock to sell at auction for between $2,000 and $3,000.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An antique Guilmet ormolu mounted rouge griotte marble mystery mantel retailed by Tagini, Dijon, France, circa 1875
works marked BREVETE, GIT, SGDG, # 3219
Case: 10-1/2 inches high by 15 inches wide by 9 inches deep
CONDITION: operational, finial
PROVENANCE: acquired at auction
$2,000-3,000*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia