Carriage clock in a fanciful gothic revival taste stamped to the base AF probably for the Parisian jeweller and goldsmith Alexis Falize, £2900 at Gardiner Houlgate.
With its distinctive griffin handle, scenes depicting The Annunciation and the Wise and Foolish Virgins and roundels emblematic of the 12 months of the year, the Angelus clock is known in a number of different materials. Examples come in bronze, silver plate, silver and in ivory.
A carved ivory and enamel clock of similar design by Lucien Falize, a piece exhibited at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, is pictured in Katherine Purcell’s book Falize: A Dynasty of Jewellers (1999).
Another in ivory and silver gilt was sold at Christie’s in 2004 for £8500. The silver-plated version pictured here was offered at Gardiner Houlgate (22% buyer’s premium) in Corsham, Bath, on February 23 where it made £2900. Another in this medium was sold by Sotheby’s in May 2021 for £3800.
