No. 579 CUM
11-inch Comtoise clock with verge escapement and folded pendulum, dating from around 1845. Two-piece pressed decorative plate depicting a flutist serenading his beloved. On small plaques in the dial bezel are engraved “DEPOSE” at the top right and “PAGET” at the top left. The groove separating the upper part and corner decorations is only visible in rudiments, as parts of the upper depiction extend far into the corners. Since the decorative plate was mounted on an 11-inch cage, a separate stamping tool was required for covering the lower half of the dial. Typically, 11-inch cages were used for month-going clocks, which required an extension of the decorative plate by about 3 cm. Cutting off the upper corner decorations for use as lower corners was not possible with this model, so a separate stamping tool for the lower corners must have existed. The tool for single-piece stamping was made directly with a lower extension, so that by cutting off the lower extension it could be used for 10- and 11-inch high models. Such decorative plate models, where the depiction of the gable grows into the corners with 2 stamping tools, are rare and probably only occur between 1843–1848 (period of validity of the single-piece stamping patent).
In this clock, however, the stamped part consists of 3 pieces, because the lower strip was cut, shaped to fit, so that as a non-cut lower strip a clean overall picture could be achieved. If the lower strip had been cut to fit the cage, one would have had to cut through the large central cartouche in which the manufacturer’s initials LP (Leon Paget) are engraved.
Half-hour and full-hour strikes on bell with repetition of the hour strike. Strike release weight-driven. Iron hands with applied brass flowers. Enamel dial signed: Farjot à Ste Marguerite de Neaux, polychrome floral border around the place name.
Dial diameter: 245
Cage dimensions: 305 × 273 × 152 H × W × D
Movement dimensions: 433 × 273 × 170 H × W × D
Pendulum length: approx. 1200
( all dimensions in mm )
