285 - Louis George - Horloger du Roy

Louis George - Horloger du Roy A very fine Berlin Pendule d'Officier travelling clock with quarter hour/hour strike, quarter hour/hour repeater and alarm Movm. No. 4046, Dimensions 185 mm, circa 1790, Origin Deutschland Case: Bronze, firegilt, concave top surmounted by a snake handle, sides and front with laurel and oak leave mountings, period style decorated bezel, glass-covered dial and back side, disc-shaped feet. Dial: Enamel. Movm.: Very fine round brass full plate movement, chain/fusee, 1 barrel, rope winder for alarm, finely matted rack strike levers applied on the back side, verge escapement, ring balance, 5 hammers / 2 bells. Eminent watchmaker Louis George (1743-1812) was a third generation descendant of a French Huguenot family who had fled to Berlin. From 1769 on George delivered timepieces to Frederick the Great, his successor Frederick William II and also Frederick William II’s successor Frederick William III as "Horloger du Roy" (watchmaker to the king). He also supplied different types of watches and clocks, such as console clocks, pocket and deck watches, chronometers, odometers, pendulum clocks and mostly flute and organ clocks to other German rulers. He had business relations to Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the father of Henri-Louis Droz, as well as to Jean-Frédéric Leschot. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movm.: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.