Neuchâtel pendulum clock in Louis XVI style

Historical significance

• Standing on a console decorated with a vase of flowers, the case is made of very dark brown painted wood and covered with Martin varnish with gold decoration. It features foliage motifs painted in gold leaf and coated with a colorless varnish.
• The white enamel dial is painted with Roman and Arabic numerals. The makers’ signature is enhanced with a garland of gilded leaves. At the base of the dial, concealed by the bezel, a small plaque engraved with the inscriptions “Silence, Ordinaire, Grande Sonnerie” allows the positioning of the “Sonne et non-sonne” (Strike and silent) lever.
• The movement, bearing the number 1782, features grande sonnerie striking of the hours and quarters, an alarm and a verge escapement.
• Signed by two renowned watchmakers from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Louis Courvoisier and Aimé Robert, who were associated under the company name Robert, Courvoisier et Cie, which became Courvoisier et Cie in 1811, this model is one of the early examples of a pendulum clock with grande sonnerie, a specialty of Neuchâtel watchmakers in the first half of the 19th century.

Sources & references

1. Musée international d'horlogerie, online collection record, inv. IV-6: https://collection.mih.ch/fr/collection/item/37437/

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