Lot 297

Theodore Demire à Paris, Height 270 mm, circa 1660
An important early half hour / hour striking pendule religieuse in the Hague tradition, produced shortly after the invention of the pendulum
Case: wood, ebony-veneered, the front door locked on the right side with the winding key. Dial: brass, covered with black velvet, applied silver chapter ring, mounted silver "lambrequin" covering an aperture for the controlling of the pendulum. Movm.: rectangular brass movement 80 x 105 mm, signed, large barrel, 1 hammer / 1 bell, locking plate, verge escapement, keywind, cycloidal cheeks, short pendulum with silk string suspension.
Shortly after Huygens in Holland had invented the pendulum for clocks in 1657, a series of clocks featuring this new technology emerged, some of them of very simple design. One of the earliest ones was created by Theodore Demire (or Domire, which is, curiously enough, the signature on the plaque beneath the dial); according to Tardy he was a master in Saint-Germain des Prés in 1673 and in Paris in 1675.