Blondeau, Chitelblanc, France, Comtoise clock, 8 day, time and strike, weight driven movement with Chevalier de Bethune escapement variant, thread suspension with rear-hanging pendulum in a iron post and plate frame, brass chapter ring with engraved Roman
The brass dial is in good condition. Nicely made brass hand. The alarm mechanism is absent. The bell impinges on the suspension shroud in the back and fronton in the front so it may be too large. Height of suspension shroud is 4.25 inches. It is uncommon to find engraving on the brass hand and fronton. Cut steel pinion on the end of the second wheel arbor to drive the hand. Both 2nd wheel arbors have turned and faceted steel arbors. The second wheel in the strike train has an astonishing 12 crossings. It also has an old replaced tooth. The strike train employs a counterweight, rather than a spring, which is more typical of Comtoise clocks that come 150 years later. Heavy iron fan with two blades. The movement uses a variant of the rare the Chevalier de Bethune escapement. Introduced in the 1720s, the maker of this clock put it to use in 1734. In this version, the pallets are each mounted to their own arbors and associated mechanically via a crutch-like linkage between them. It was found to be less reliable than the anchor escapement which required fewer parts and had fewer points of friction. A slightly more sophisticated version of this escapement is shown in Tardy's treatment of movements for Louis XV clocks. Chitelblanc, the location engraved on one of the winding arbor shutters, is just a few miles Northeast of Morbier.
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