Beschreibung:

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY GRANDE SONNERIE ASTRONOMICAL PERPETUAL CALENDAR REGULATEUR DE PARQUET The movement by Ferdinand Berthoud the case by Balthazar Lieutaud the ormolu mounts by Philippe Caffiri The Movement: The main white enamel chapter ring with twice XII hour numerals and outer Arabic numerals 0-60, the finely matted gilt centre with rectangular bisextile aperture, the hands giving the following indications: small blued steel hand; sweep seconds (1 rotation per minute) large blued steel arrow-head hand - mean time minutes (1 rotation every hour) large pierced and chased ormolu sunburst hand - solar time minutes (1 rotation every hour) smaller pierced and chased ormolu hand - indicating the hours (1 rotation every 24-hours) two smaller rectangular ormolu hands engraved Lever du Soleil and Coucher du Soleil indicating the times of sunrise and sunset, strike/silent lever at the top of the dial between chapters 55 and 60, bolt-and-shutter lever between chapters 20 and 25, the matted and gilt lower section dominated by an arched retrograde white enamel dial displaying the date and the age of the moon indicated by an ormolu fly-back arrow-head hand, the two rectangular apertures above displaying the date ( Lea moin ) and the position of the sun in the zodiac ( Lieu du Soleil ), the rolling moonphase engraved on a silvered disc displayed in an aperture above a subsidiary enamel day of week dial signed Ferdinand Berthoud , the highly complex movement with the going and strike trains held within rectangular plates signed Ferdinand Berthoud on the backplate, the weight-driven going train with Graham-type deadbeat escapement with Berthoud's own massive gridiron pendulum knife-edge suspended from a brass bracket on the backboard, the strike trains with spring barrels striking the quarters on two bells and hours on a further bell via a large diameter 24-hour countwheel with trip lever to the quarter countwheel, the calendar and equation assembly below the main movement and carried within a large pierced-out brass frame, the spring signed and dated 'Brizot Janvier 1774' The Case within a glazed case with a beaded band and surmounted by volutes, below a neo-classical fruiting laurel-hung vase with reeded and scrolled handles with rings, decorated with a winged flaming urn, the sides with foliate sprays, the lower section of the case with a flowerhead-filled guilloche band, a foliate rim and a ribbon-bound staff, above the glazed door with inset corners to the top with a beaded and foliate frame, to the centre with a ribbon-hung fruiting laurel-wreath, the sides with foliate-edged panels, above a further flowerhead-filled guilloche moulding and fruiting laurel flutes, the base with a trellis mount centred by a flowerhead and with fruits and flowers of the seasons, the sides with a flowerhead-filled lozenge, on a rectangular plinth with mille-raies panels, lacking floral spray mount below vase, stamped three times 'B.LIEUTAUD' to the reverse 105 in. (266 cm.) high; 24 in. (60.5 cm.) wide; 14 in. (36.5 cm.) deep