A late 19th Century black patinated and lacquered brass industrial mystery/novelty clock in the form of a steam hammer by André Romain Guilmet.
Height: 18 inches (45.75 cm)
Width: 12 inches (30.5 cm)
Depth: 6 inches (15.25 cm)
SOLD
The reciprocating hammer head is the clock’s pendulum and the motion is achieved by a complex transmission from the escape wheel of a French “pendule de Paris”.
The first steam hammer was invented by James Naysmyth who was a contemporary of Guilmet. Guilmet’s fascination with all things industrial as well as horological prompted him to make a clock modelled on Naysmith’s hammer
It is interesting to note that Guilmet was also a prolific inventor who took out many patents and it was he who in 1868, first placed a driving chain on a bicycle, such that it would drive the rear wheel in the manner that we are still familiar with today.
Here then is a very collectible and fully restored example of one of these relatively rare and interesting pieces by Guilmet. Marked on the backplate Medaille D’or/GLT/SGDG/PARIS and bearing Guilmet’s number 764. It also strikes the hour and half hour on a bell.
