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Antique 19th Cent. Bronze Vincenti & Cie Champleve Cloisonne French Mantel Clock
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Antique 19th Cent. Bronze Vincenti & Cie Champleve Cloisonne French Mantel Clock
Price: US $7700.00

YES, IT IS COMPLETELY DAMAGE FREE!

YES, THE CLOCK RUNS and KEEPS GOOD TIME!

YES, THIS IS A NO-RESERVE sale!

Now read on to see why you should own it...

Weare offering an exquisite, estate fresh antique late-19th century Vincenti &Co. French champlevé mantel clock! Some clocksare built to high mechanical standards, while others are admired for their painstakinglycrafted ornamentation. This clock hasboth. Made by Vincenti & Co. ofParis, it embodies the quality and style of nineteenth-century Frenchclockmaking, and was sold in Gilded-Age New York City by high-end retail jewelerGeorge W. Welsh’s Sons. This is one ofthe rarest and most elaborate Vincenti & Co. pieces that you\'ll find on (or anywhere else), with examples of this quality coming onto the marketat a rate of less than 1 per year and virtually always with one sort of major problemor another.

Themantel clock is comprised of a bronze (or brass) case made of four columns eachcapped with a flaming urn finial, that together hold up a rectangular base andtop that are all covered with a meticulously executed champlevé (a name forFrench enameling that looks like cloisonné) in a floral pattern of pink, red,yellow, and blue flowers on a turquoise background. In the colors, patterns, and classicalelements, this is a stellar example of Orientalism applied to clocks. Crowning the clock is a wide floral champlevéand bronze urn atop a domed roof. Allfour sides of the clock are beveled clear glass, with the front and back panelshinged for access to the face and movement, respectively. The white porcelain face is marked with blueArabic numerals and minutes in 5-minute increments. Painted on the face is “GEO W WELSH’S SONS”along with the remnants of “NEW YORK.” Accordingto the Jewelers’ Circular-Weekly ofFebruary 5, 1919 (p.185),

“Theconcern of George W. Welsh’s Sons, retail jewelers at 213 Broadway, trace theirhistory back to 1845, at which time the business was established by George W.Welsh and was located at 230 Greenwich Street.The business was moved from its original home in 1851 to 244 GreenwichSt., and later in 1872, to 253 Greenwich St. Upon the death of Mr. George W.Welsh, his son, S. Charles Welsh, succeeded to the business. In 1909 headmitted his two sons, George Welsh and S. Charles Welsh, Jr, to an interest,both having previously been in the employ of their father. Feb. 1, 1916, the business was moved to thepresent address.”

BrothersS. Charles and George A. Welsh purchased the business from their father’sestate in 1876 for $25,000. It ispresumably this year when the company named changed to George W. Welsh’s Sons. On the back of the clock mechanism is “A.1”, “MADEIN FRANCE”, a serial number of 7463, and a center stamp reading “MEDAILLE D”ARGENT1855 VINCENTI & CIE” for when Vincenti & Co. won a silver medal at theExpo Universalle Paris in 1855. Accordingto the entry on watch-wiki.org (translated from German),

“Thenative Corsican Jean (Ghjuvanni Giovanni) Vincenti founded on 6th October 1823in Montbéliard Uhrenfabrik Vincenti & Cie. Vincenti for the most partdeveloped for the production machines and equipment for the manufacture ofwheels, drives, Rohwerken (Roulant Blancs), and complete movements. After a fewyears the company ran into financial difficulties and went bankrupt on 24thFebruary 1828.

Themanager Jean \"Albert\" Roux took over part of the shares of Vincentiand his business partner James Thayer. The sale of company shares gave thestruggling company a capital injection in the amount of CHF 110,000. On the24th October 1829 Vincenti & Cie resumed operation. Despite healthproblems, the company\'s founder Vincenti went on the search for new methods ofproduction. In Paris he met Henri Laresche . Laresche advised Vincenti thisregard. Six years after the bankruptcy, in 1834 in Paris, the company convincedthe judged with their watches: their performance was rewarded with a silvermedal. Jean Vincenti was unable to experience the comeback; he died in 1833from cancer.

Afterthe death of Jean Vincenti, Albert Roux took over the company. The renaming inAlbert Roux & Cie took place probably for legal reasons, because thewatches were still sold under the brand name Vincentie & Cie. In 1855 thecompany won another silver medal. The company traditionally continued tooperate a representative office in Paris in the Rue des Arquebusiers, and laterat 110 Rue Vieille-du-Temple. From 1863the company Vincenti & Cie worked closely with Japy Frères & Cie and S.Marti & Cie in the production and marketing of watches. Proof of this isthe biography of Emile Louis Japy, director (about 1870) and shareholder at Marti& Cie. and Vincenti & Cie. Vincenti& Cie existed until 1923.”

Manufactured in the late nineteenth century, the clockis a masterwork of complex champlevé, and measures 9 ¼” in width, 7 ¼” indepth, and 20” in height. It weighs a staggering 25 lbs, 12 oz. (hence the higher than usual shipping cost).We\'vehad itrunning in our shop for the past several days and it keeps time quite accurately, though it has notbeen serviced anytime recently (aside from a few drops of clock oil that we applied to the obvious spots as a precaution). The chime mechanism starts up at the appropriate times and moves the hammer, but the hammer never strikes the chime and appears labored in movement. The striker gears also seem to run for too long, so something is a little out of whack but we are not clock makers and would never attempt to fool with it. Since it \"mostly works\", presumably there are no broken or missing parts and likely it will be an easy fix for someone with the know-how, but please be aware that it is being sold with this small shortcoming (we always turn off the chimes on ours anyway... they drive us crazy). Otherwise, the whole clockis in very good antique condition, withwhat is apparently its original pendulum and glass, enamel that is free of damage, and bronzethat only has a slight tarnish due to age (you could clean or polish it if you choose but we\'ll leave it just as found in case a purist wins it). This would be an excellentacquisitionor gift for advanced collectors of fine timepieces, champlevé or cloisonné,and anyone who has the wisdom to invest in the best! We are startingthis sale at $9.99 with so no doubt it will sell to some luckyer. Let this museum-quality antiqueclock be yours!We will include a winding key that while not original to the clock is the proper size.

We are longtime E-Bay sellers with excellent response so rest assured, you can buy with confidence. Make sure to check our other sales and our E-Bay Store for more great items of an antique and collectible nature. As New England\'s premier destination for antiques and collectibles, we\'re always listing interesting new things unearthed by our 200 quality-minded dealers. Many items get listed without reserves, so be sure to bookmark us!

Your Satisfaction is Our Highest Priority:

We work hard to earn yourPositive responseand5-Star Ratingon every transaction. If there is everanythingthat would cause you to give us any lower rating, please contact us first and we\'ll gladly make things right!

Please Take a Moment to Read About Our Shipping Policies:

U.S.Buyers: Please understand thatour handling cost includesinsurance. Thus shipping on highervalue items may seem high. Rest assured that weNEVER mark up shipping costs of any kind- we just pass along whatever we have to pay on your behalf. Allbasic shipping materials are provided at our expense as a courtesy.On rare occasion, if your item is particularly fragile or valuablewe mayneed to pass along the actual cost of special packing materials we purchase just for your item. We typically offer you at least 2 shipping options: Priority Mail for fastest, safest shipment and Parcel Post for slower cheaper service. Make sure to choose the option that suits you best. In some cases there is little to no difference in cost between the two services in which case it only makes sense to use Priority Mail. Certain large or unusually shaped items require special packaging by a professional. In this case we must pass along the packing fees to you, but we still never mark up these services. In the unlikely event that we ever accidentally overcharge youwe will automatically refund your overpayment via PayPal provided theovercharge exceeds$3.00.

International Buyers: are welcome. Please understand that we use \'s Global Shipping Program for all shipments outside of the U.S. Therefore we are unable to make any changes to shipping arrangements once the sale ends.Since sets the cost for shipping, you\'ll need to deal with them directly with any inquiries about shipping. As sellers, we don\'t evenknow what they\'re charging you. The shipping fee you pay us only covers the cost of shipment to\'s shipping center in Kentucky, USA. We do not fill out customs documents, select carriers, determine shipping times, etc.

Your items are important to us, so we are very careful in our packing and use the best materials and take our time to make certain that it arrives in the condition in which it left here! We normally ship smaller items to \'s shipping center using Priority Mail. Packages larger than 12\" in any dimension usually ship via Parcel Post to save you money. All of our shipping cost include full ensurance within the U.S. In many cases, only partial ensurance is available to countries outside of the U.S. We will always purchase the maximum available on your behalf. We\'ll purchase \'s ShipCover for you only when necessary.It is important that you understand that ShipCover ironically doesn\'t cover the cost of shipping, so in the unlikely event of loss or damage, you, the buyer will forfeit that cost. Hopefully will fix this problem in the future but for now, your offer constitutes your acceptance of these terms.

Returns: We will accept returns within fourteen days of your receipt of the item only if the item is materially misrepresented. All returns are made at the buyer\'s expense.

*JPER-1-J*




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