103rd Auction
2020/11/7
Lot 133
Henri Motel, Horloger de la Marine, Dépôt de la Marine, Movement No. 262, 155 x 170 x 160 mm, circa 1849
A French ship's chronometer with pivoted detent escapement according to Berthoud, sold on 1st of June 1849 to the Dépôt de la Marine for the sum of 2400 Francs
Case: mahogany. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, chain/fusee, bimetallic chronometer balance with 2 movable weights, 2 screws and auxiliary compensation, blued helical balance spring.
Henri Motel’s chronometer with movement no. 262 is part of one of his later series and constructed in the same way as models 261 and 263; just as those it was sold for 2,400 Francs to the Dépôt de la Marine. This piece, however, was updated 20 years later by H. Charbonnier, a student at the Ecole Imperial d'Horlogerie de Cluses who replaced the balance and its spring by a Poole auxiliary. He also changed the signatures on movement and dial – the dial signature was reverted to the original again later. All other parts remained in their original condition, particularly the pivoted detent escapement. A detailed examination of the winding spring revealed the signature of spring maker Bourquin and the date 1846, which matches Motel’s no. 262.
Jean-François Henri Motel (1786-1857) was born at Margny-Lès-Compiègne on 31 December 1786 and is considered the best known of Berthoud's pupils. His father, Louis Nicolas Motel, was a farmer and tavern-keeper. Motel went in 1794 to Prytanée and then as a boarder to the Ecole des Arts et Métiers at Chalons until 1806, when he obtained the qualification of Aspirant. He was then selected to go to Paris to be trained in the art of horology at the expense of the government; his instructor was to be Louis Berthoud, horloger de la Marine. Motel had barely finished his apprenticeship when Berthoud died suddenly in September 1813. His widow appealed to Motel to continue Berthoud's workshop and complete the training of her two sons. On 14 August 1819 Motel married Louise Elisabeth Herbet. He established himself in 12 Rue de l'Abbaye in 1823 and exhibited for the first time in 1827 when the jury awarded him a Silver Medal for his chronometers and astronomical clocks and the comment '...none produces horology with greater precision than Mr. Motel'.
Source: "Longitude at Sea in the time of Louis Berthoud and Henri Motel", Jean-Claude Sabrier, Geneva 1993, p. 593ff.
A French ship's chronometer with pivoted detent escapement according to Berthoud, sold on 1st of June 1849 to the Dépôt de la Marine for the sum of 2400 Francs
Case: mahogany. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, chain/fusee, bimetallic chronometer balance with 2 movable weights, 2 screws and auxiliary compensation, blued helical balance spring.
Henri Motel’s chronometer with movement no. 262 is part of one of his later series and constructed in the same way as models 261 and 263; just as those it was sold for 2,400 Francs to the Dépôt de la Marine. This piece, however, was updated 20 years later by H. Charbonnier, a student at the Ecole Imperial d'Horlogerie de Cluses who replaced the balance and its spring by a Poole auxiliary. He also changed the signatures on movement and dial – the dial signature was reverted to the original again later. All other parts remained in their original condition, particularly the pivoted detent escapement. A detailed examination of the winding spring revealed the signature of spring maker Bourquin and the date 1846, which matches Motel’s no. 262.
Jean-François Henri Motel (1786-1857) was born at Margny-Lès-Compiègne on 31 December 1786 and is considered the best known of Berthoud's pupils. His father, Louis Nicolas Motel, was a farmer and tavern-keeper. Motel went in 1794 to Prytanée and then as a boarder to the Ecole des Arts et Métiers at Chalons until 1806, when he obtained the qualification of Aspirant. He was then selected to go to Paris to be trained in the art of horology at the expense of the government; his instructor was to be Louis Berthoud, horloger de la Marine. Motel had barely finished his apprenticeship when Berthoud died suddenly in September 1813. His widow appealed to Motel to continue Berthoud's workshop and complete the training of her two sons. On 14 August 1819 Motel married Louise Elisabeth Herbet. He established himself in 12 Rue de l'Abbaye in 1823 and exhibited for the first time in 1827 when the jury awarded him a Silver Medal for his chronometers and astronomical clocks and the comment '...none produces horology with greater precision than Mr. Motel'.
Source: "Longitude at Sea in the time of Louis Berthoud and Henri Motel", Jean-Claude Sabrier, Geneva 1993, p. 593ff.
estimated
19.000—25.000 €
Price realized
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