French Porcelain Clock, ca. 1840
Watch
GUEST:
My parents were into the Arabian horses. They were both professional trainers, so I grew up doing horses my whole life. My mom found this clock in a little, tiny antique store in Minnesota. And since she loved Arabians so much, she bought the clock, and it went to the homeplace. I have researched it and researched it and I cannot find a thing on it, so I thought it would be fun to bring it here and to see whether or not if I could get information on it, or if maybe I could stump you all.
APPRAISER:
Well, we're ready for both.
GUEST:
Cool.
APPRAISER:
The clock is French.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
And I tell you, a lot of French clocks are pretty. And what's not pretty about this clock? I mean, the quality is just top drawer. The clock is porcelain. This is wood on the bottom, and it's actually original to the clock.
GUEST:
Oh my, okay.
APPRAISER:
Unfortunately, this got a coat of radiator paint on it over the years.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It was originally gilded. So as flashy as this clock is, that was even brighter yet. The clock dates from about the 1840 period. And we know that because of a couple of different things. One is the dial itself. If you look very closely, the dial has sort of a squiggle work on the face of the clock. And that squiggle work is what we call engine turning. It's a brass dial that was then silver plated.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And you have an old silver finish on there. Whether it's the original or not, I don't know, but I would guess it easily could be. Now, on the movement, I sort of cheated. Saw a maker's name, "Henri Marc," and then it says "Au Paris." The pendulum on this clock is hanging from a silk thread, and that type of suspension for the pendulum fell out of favor by about 1850.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So that helps us date it. Now, the case itself comes from Limoges, France. Now, we did not see a mark on it either. But we look at it stylistically. The attention to detail is very strong. The modeling is very strong. The subject, with this Arabian hunter on the hunt scene, the dog has that wild boar, I wish I knew who this subject was depicting. It may actually depict a historic figure. I daresay the kids didn't throw the ball in the room very much that this clock was. The flowers are all hand painted on the face. And it's just aesthetically so pleasing. I don't know if you've ever had a valuation on it.
GUEST:
It's never been important.
APPRAISER:
The retail price on this clock would be between $12,000 and $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my. Cool.
Appraisal Details
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