Henri Jacot, a Bambu Grande-sonnerie Carriage Clock

A grande-sonnerie bambu carriage clock by Jacot.

The eight-day duration movement has a silvered platform lever escapement and has grande-sonnerie strike in which it strikes the hours on a bell at each quarter hour along with the actual quarter on two gongs. To the underside of the case is a lever allowing for full-striking (grande-sonnerie); striking (petite-sonnerie with just the quarters sounding at each quarter and the hour on the hour), or silent. The platform lever escapement is an example of the more refined type often used by Jacot on his grande-sonnerie clocks with the underside stamped with a Gothic 'Y' trademark, most probably for the escapement maker Yersin, along with the serial number 6755 and has a Breguet over-coil and a steel bridge across the index arm to contain any movement in the index and therefore unintended change in regulation. The backplate is stamped with the Jacot trademark, an African grey parrot being a Jacot, along with the serial number 10385 with the gong block stamped F.D. for the gong maker.

The frontplate is stamped with the workshop blanc roulant serial number 7394, which runs in sequence with those movements made for Jacot and signed for a short period by Alfred Baveux circa 1880-83. The award poinçon as seen on the dialplate, and within the movement, is as seen on Jacot carriage clocks from circa 1868 showing the various exposition awards as they were given, with this oval stamped for the silver in 1889. It is the first recorded with this date, the previous being 1878, and so we can date this clock to 1889. For a fuller explanation of the various awards and their significance see my exhibition catalogue as described below.

​The white enamel dial has a silvered mask, blued steel spade hands, black Roman hour numerals and black Arabic outer five minute markings. There are attractive gold stars set between the numerals as seen on a number of other Jacot grande-sonnerie clocks of this period along with a typical Jacot inner ring.

​The bambu case is one used by Jacot for a number of different clocks, including timepiece, strike-repeat, petite-sonnerie and, as in the example, grande-sonnerie. Although nearly always associated with Jacot a few clocks have been seen with this clock as signed for Drocourt, notably the grande-sonnerie example serial number 19101, stock number 1417, which can be viewed on the carriage clock page.

​Although not signed as such, this clock came from the Baveux workshops in Saint Nicolas d'Aliermont which had originally been those of Henri Jacot prior to his death in 1868 and where he had been in partnership with Louis Baveux. Alfred Baveux continued to supply the movements for Jacot following the retirement of Louis and from 1891 his sons Alfred Raoul & Louis-Alphonse-Edouard, as Baveux frères, took over the workshops following the death of Alfred. Recent research I've undertaken has unearthed a document showing the granting of a mortgage on the Saint Nicolas d'Aliermont property in 1868, the year of Henri's death, with both Baveux and Julien & Albert Jacot recorded as signatories in the year that Julien, his brother, took over the running of the Henri Jacot business prior to his son, Albert, doing so some five years later.

​For further history regarding Henri Jacot and their clocks see my 2013 Henri Jacot exhibition catalogue accessed via the website.

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Condition report

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