BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:9a978421d9964cf083dce1163c199306 DTSTAMP:20260404T063203Z SUMMARY:an-exceptionally-fine-and-rare-gilt-bronze-8-day-pendule-de-voyage- carriage-clock-quarter-repeating-on-a-bell-with-alarm-calendar-moon-phases -and-fitted-morocco-leather-travelling-case - Date de vente : 09/11/2025 DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : An exceptionally fine and rare gilt-bronze 8-day Pendule de Voyage carriage clock\, quarter repeating on a bell with alarm\ , calendar\, moon phases and fitted morocco leather travelling case\n\nlev er escapement\, three-arm plain balance mounted to the backplate\, spiral steel balance spring with Breguet overcoil\, compensation curb and regulat ing index\, parachute suspension\, Breguet à rouleaux calendar work\, two brass hammers\, one for repeat\, the other for alarm sounding on a bell m ounted to backplate\n\nsilver engine-turned dial\, clou de Paris guilloch é decoration\, satin finished chapter rings for hours with Roman numerals and pearled minutes\, crémaillère borders\, blued steel Breguet hands\, inner ring for alarm time with corresponding central gold indicating hand \, large aperture for moon phases\, the blued disc decorated with gold sta rs and moon with pointed tip\, gilt-metal dial panel further decorated wit h clou de Paris guilloché decoration and having linear apertures for day\ , date and month\, year displayed within polished shield-shaped cartouche with winding square above\, off-set polished oval plaque with apertures fo r adjusting alarm and time\, two further polished plaques signed and numbe red Breguet et Fils\, No. 2607\n\ngilt-bronze neoclassical decorated case\ , top with four ball finials and folding bar-and-tassel handle pivoted bet ween a pair of lion’s head pommels\, pilasters to all sides each with do ric-form capitals surmounted by an acanthus leaf rosette panel and joined to one another by a pediment of neoclassical continuously scrolling acant hus leaves formed around central rosettes\, the base decorated ensuite\, e ngine-turned bun feet\, hinged front and back doors\, bevelled glass panel s to all sides\n\nMeasurements\n\nheight 120mm\n\nwidth 84mm\n\ndepth 63mm \n\nweight 1591.8g\n\nAccompaniments\n\nwith a fitted morocco leather trav elling case\, the hinged front with sliding observation panel\, recess for later key to base and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate\n\nPurchase d from George Brown at Breguet in July 1960.\n\nMusée International d’H orlogerie\, La Chaux-de-Fonds\, 1976\, Vitrine 11\, No. 2.\n\nBreguet\, C. \, A. L. Breguet Horloger\, Ramsgate: Thanet Printing Works\, 1961\, p. 24 .\n\nDaniels\, George\, The Art of Breguet\, London & New York: Sotheby Pa rke\, Bernet\, 1975\, p. 220\, figs. 232a-b.\n\nIn his book Carriage Clock s\, Charles Allix observes: “It is not surprising that his [Breguet’s] pendules de voyage were both the first and best ever made in France.”1 Conceived for the affluent traveller of the early 19th century\, Breguet ’s pendules de voyage were not only luxurious objects and statements of their owner’s wealth\, but also instruments of remarkable practicality\, utility\, and elegance.\n\nMeasuring just 120 mm in height\, this pendule de voyage is highly portable. In addition to the time and alarm displays\ , the dial provides a full calendar and the age and phase of the moon. Dur ing the hours of darkness when the dial could not be easily read\, a pushe r at the top of the case could be depressed to strike the time to the near est quarter on a bell mounted to the movement’s backplate. The alarm is indicated on the dial in a counter-clockwise direction and set for the num ber of hours of sleep desired rather than for the time of waking. It sound s on the same bell as the repeating mechanism.\n\nSuch clocks were not onl y supremely practical for travel by coach\, but also provided an elegant a nd useful companion when staying in temporary lodgings or as the guest of a distinguished host. The moon-phase disc is unusually large and decorativ e\, its presence signalling both mechanical sophistication and horological prestige. In the early 19th century\, the indication of the moon’s age and phase retained genuine practical importance. Above all\, it governed t he feasibility of travel at night\, when in rural areas the presence or ab sence of moonlight could determine both the safety and ease of a journey. Beyond this\, lunar indications remained vital for calculating tides in co astal navigation\, for regulating agricultural cycles of planting and harv est\, and for fixing the dates of numerous religious observances across Eu rope and the Middle East.\n\nThe first carriage clock recorded in the Breg uet Archives is no. 178\, sold to Général Bonaparte on 24 April 1798. Se quentially the next pendule de voyage is no. 179 which can be closely comp ared with the present clock\; it was sold to S. M. François de Bourbon\, King of Naples\, in 1804 for Fr. 4\,000 (see: The Art of Breguet\, p. 164\ , figs. 115a–d). Two further very similar pendules de voyage are nos. 26 44 and 2678\, each\, like the present clock\, also sold in 1811. The forme r is in a private collection (illustrated in Breguet – Watchmakers since 1775\, p. 243\, fig. 284)\, while the latter\, no. 2678\, was bequeathed by Winthrop Kellogg Edey to The Frick Collection\, New York.\n\nLike nos. 179\, 2644 and 2678\, this clock\, no. 2607\, is designed and decorated in the Empire style\, which flourished in France during the reign of Napoleo n I (1804–1815). The Empire style was the dominant expression of neoclas sicism in the early nineteenth century. Drawing inspiration above all from the art and architecture of ancient Rome\, enriched by elements of Greek classicism and by the renewed fascination with ancient Egypt that followed Napoleon’s campaign (1798-1801) and the publication of the Description de l’Égypte\, it combined monumental forms with rich decorative detail. Characteristic motifs included laurel wreaths\, palmettes\, rosettes\, ac anthus scrolls\, and classical figures\, often paired with eagles\, lions\ , sphinxes\, obelisks\, and other emblems of power. In the decorative arts \, the style was distinguished by the use of gilt bronze\, finely chased o rnament\, and symmetrical arrangements that conveyed grandeur and authorit y. Though originating in France\, the Empire style spread widely across Eu rope\, influencing furniture\, jewellery\, metalwork\, and horology\, wher e its bold yet refined aesthetic became a hallmark of Napoleonic taste.\n\ nBreguet’s pendules de voyage may be regarded as the archetype from whic h the later French carriage clock ultimately derived. Yet they occupy a ca tegory entirely their own: conceived with a refinement of proportion\, com plexity of mechanism\, and quality of finish far surpassing the generic ca rriage clocks that proliferated later in the nineteenth century. While a h andful of subsequent makers succeeded in approaching something of their el egance and mechanical subtlety\, Breguet’s creations set a standard of t ravelling clock that was admired and emulated\, but never truly surpassed. \n\n1 Allix\, Charles\, Carriage Clocks\, Their History and Development\, Woodbridge: ACC\, 1974\, p. 37. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR