Antiquorum Auctioneers since 1974

Geneva, May 10, 2026

LOT 436

FOLIN L'AINE, FRANCE, AN EXCEPTIONAL ENAMEL AND WHITE MARBLE SKELETON CLOCK WITH CALENDAR AND ZODIAC INDICATIONS, GILT BRONZE

CHF 8,000 - 16,000

HKD 80,000 - 160,000 / USD 10,200 - 20,300 / EUR 8,700 - 17,400 / JPY 1,620,000 - 3,230,000

TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

Sold: CHF 12,500

A very fine and elegant, gilt bronze and enamel, manual wind eight-day going, hour and half-hour striking skeleton clock with calendar. The white enamel Roman chapter ring with blue and gilt decorated edge, surmounted by a cast ormolu mount modelled as an eagle perched on a foliate garland. The centre reveals the star-shaped frame and wheel work with pierced and chased ormolu hands, above a rectangular enamel signature plaque signed Folin L’Aîné à Paris. Flanking the main dial on each side are subsidiary dials indicating the date, day of the week, and zodiac signs, each with star-shaped wheel work and pierced and chased ormolu pointers. The ensemble rests on an ormolu and blue enamel arch decorated with grapes and vines, above a white marble plinth base adorned to the front with a cast relief plaque depicting frolicking putti, supported on bun feet. Apollo mask sunburst pendulum.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3-6*

Good

Slightly oxidized

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Folin L'Aine, France

Year Circa 1790

Caliber Brass circular with going barrels both for the going and the striking train, anchor escapement, "sunburst" pendulum, silk suspension. Striking on a bell with count wheel on the back plate.

Length 245

Height 425

Width 125

Signature on a cartouche below the dial

Notes

Nicolas-Alexandre Folin, maître in 1784, is recorded as working in Paris circa 1790–1795.

An almost identical clock, with a similar eagle cresting, star-shaped wheelwork, calendar mechanism, and signature plaque by Folin, is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 320, ill. A.
Another closely related clock is illustrated in Tardy, French Clocks the World Over, Paris, 1981, Vol. II, p. 240.
A comparable clock by Folin was sold at Sotheby’s New York, Important French Furniture, sale 8362, 9 November 2007, lot 152, for USD 43,000.