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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Clock type · Domestic

Pendule de Paris (Drum Movements)

Partially verified

The standard round French movement used in thousands of different mantel clock cases.

Movement & mechanism

  • Round plates (approx. 90-100mm diameter)
  • Count-wheel or rack striking on a bell
  • Pendulum regulated, often with silk suspension in earlier examples

Identification

  • Round brass plates
  • Drum-shaped movement housing
  • Winding holes usually at 4 and 8 o'clock on the dial

Terminology

  • Drum movement
  • Round movement
  • Count-wheel strike

Known variations

  • Silk-thread and spring-suspension versions

Collecting notes

Condition and originality are paramount. For technical clocks like regulators or atmospheric clocks, the completeness of the original mechanism is more important than case condition. For decorative clocks (Boulle, Empire), the quality of the case craft is central.

Related photographs

Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock ca. 1930
Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock ca. 1930 — Smerdis of Tlön, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Mantel clock MET DP333812
Mantel clock MET DP333812 — Johann Andreas Thelot, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Mantel clock MET DP337728
Mantel clock MET DP337728 — Johann Andreas Thelot, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
  2. Loomes, B., The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain
  3. Roberts, D., British Skeleton Clocks
  4. Museum catalogue records

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.