A giant three-train Le Roy et Fils Carriage clock in an engraved gilt case, c1880.

A giant three-train Le Roy et Fils Carriage clock in an engraved gilt case, c1880. A giant three-train Petite Sonnerie Carriage clock in an engraved gilt case, the dial signed for Le Roy et Fils at 114-115, Palais Royal, Paris. Two Le Roy firms existed in the nineteenth century, this firm originating with Theodore Leroy who in partnership with Auguste-Pierre Lepaute was appointed Horolger du Roi in 1827. The movement is signed for V. Recluse, the maker, renowned for his beautiful carriage clocks. He won a Silver Medal at the 1878 Paris Exposition. The Anglaise case suggests the clock was made later than 1880. Le Roy et Fils moved from the Palais Royal to L'Avenue Opera in the late 1880's so the clock was very probably made during this decade. The clock is of unusually large size, some eleven inches high, and may originally have been of fourteen-day duration, now slightly less. The three-train movement provides Petite Sonnerie with Westminster chimes on a nest of four miniature bells, visible through the side of the clock at the base of the movement. The push repeat gives Grande Sonnerie, repeating both hours and quarters. The clock is illustrated on p120-121 of the book, A Century of Carriage Clocks. Provenance: the Doctor Eugene Antelis Collection.