The red morocco traveling box bears a paper label for the Polish retailer, F. Woroniecki, W. Warszawie, No. 107623. Top quality carriage clocks were amongst the most expensive pieces produced by Breguet. Breguet, the inventor of the carriage clock, did not make very many. Only about 200 carriage clocks are mentioned in the registers. Aside from three in the second (Gide) register, the first carriage clock he made was for Napoleon Bonaparte, see: Antiquorum, Geneva, ?The Art of Breguet?, April 14, 1991, lot 10). Of all the Breguet carriage clocks, his humpback model seems to be eternally popular, being reproduced even recently. The shape has retained its modernity and inspired other firms, such as Jump and Cole in England. In recent years, Breguet issued a very small series of humpback silver carriage clocks, practically identical in appearance to the earlier ones. Whist not specifically made for these markets, both the Russians and the English seemed to have been particularly fond of the ?hump-back? model. Of the four Breguet ?hump-back? clocks sold by Antiquorum in the last few years, three were sold to Russian buyers. No. 150 - Sold to Mr. Paschkoff. Antiquorum, Geneva, September 20, 2001, Lot 148. No. 1745 (the same model as the present lot) - Sold to Grand Duke Alexis of Russia. Antiquorum, Geneva, April 24, 2004, Lot 54. No. 2428 (the same model as the present lot) - Sold to The Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. Antiquorum, Geneva, October 19, 2002, Lot 150. No. 2654 - Sold to Monsieur Bergaud. Antiquorum, Geneva, April 24, 1999, Lot 401. Provenance : Madame Polovtsov, who was the wife of Alexander Alexandrovitch Polovtsov, Russian Secretary of State in the late 19th century. Their beautiful mansion in St Petersburg can still be visited today.