Jean Baptiste Delettrez
A Napoleon III red Boulle and ormolu mounted mantel clock in the Louis XV style. Of waisted form the shaped case with allover cut brass and tortoiseshell marquetry, mounted with finely cast and chased gilt bronze. The eight day movement with Brocot suspension, rack striking the hour and half hour on a gong. The circular gilt dial with enamel roman numeral enamel tablets marking the hours and Arabic 5 minutes. Movement and case numbered 31542.
Jean-Baptiste Delettrez (1816-1887) went into business with A Brocot at 62 Rue Charlot in Paris in 1851. They exhibited together at the 1857 Universal Exhibition. This innovative and fruitful partnership continued until the death of Brocot fils in 1878, after which event Delettrez continued on his own. His typical later product was a conventional 8-day mantle clock that struck the hours and half-hours, still based on the standard Brocot escapement and suspension that he had helped to refine. These elegant and much-admired timepieces were typically made to order for retailers, including several in Britain, with dials carrying the name of the retailer rather than that of their maker, but whose mechanism was stamped with the cartouche (JBD).
Height 35cm
Width 23cm
Depth 14cm
French
Circa 1880