285 - Louis George - Horloger du Roy

Louis George - Horloger du Roy A very fine Berlin Pendule d'Officier traveling clock with quarter-hour/hour strike, quarter-hour/hour repeater, and alarm Movement No. 4046, Dimensions 185 mm, circa 1790, Origin: Germany Case: Bronze, fire-gilded, concave top surmounted by a snake handle, sides and front with laurel and oak leaf mounts, period-style decorated bezel, glass-covered dial and back, disc-shaped feet. Dial: Enamel. Movement: Very fine round brass full-plate movement, chain/fusee, 1 barrel, rope winder for alarm, finely matted rack strike levers mounted on the back, verge escapement, ring balance, 5 hammers / 2 bells. The eminent watchmaker Louis George (1743–1812) was a third-generation descendant of a French Huguenot family that had fled to Berlin. From 1769 onward, George supplied timepieces to Frederick the Great, his successor Frederick William II, and Frederick William II’s successor Frederick William III as “Horloger du Roy” (watchmaker to the king). He also supplied various types of watches and clocks—such as console clocks, pocket and deck watches, chronometers, odometers, pendulum clocks, and, most notably, flute and organ clocks—to other German rulers. He had business ties with Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the father of Henri-Louis Droz, as well as with Jean-Frédéric Leschot. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, in working order, cleaning recommended.