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Hotel Nogalhilton Geneve, Nov 11, 2001

LOT 42

Timekeeper with 1 ComplicationAntide Janvier au Louvre, Mouvement Périodique, Synodique et Journalier de la lune, No. 349, circa 1802.Very fine, rare and unusual mahogany veneered, one month-going, astronomical lunar mantle clock with 24-hour dial and ten-minute subsidiary minutes dial, spherical model for cycle and age of the moon, and thermometer.

CHF 80,000 - 100,000

USD 50,000 - 63,000

Sold: CHF 124,500

C. Rectangular with two-paneled gently sloping top, applied gilt brass woman's mask above molded cornice, rectangular base, removable back panel for access to the movement, gilt brass acanthus leaf decorated glazed bezel, below glazed aperture for thermometer sector under gilt brass acanthus leaf arch, gilt brass bun feet.D. Silvered ring with Roman numerals repeated twice forming 24 with Roman chapter, inner 10-minute divisions, subsidiary silvered minutes dial set at the top, small silvered center dial for age of the moon fixed to the gilt brass tapered moon hand which is fitted with a spherical model of the moon making one rotation per lunar month (gearing set behind the hand, driven from the center), mean time indicated by gilt brass hand with star-burst end. M. Round, brass full plate, cylindrical pillars, ging barrel, anchor escapement, pendulum steel rod and brass bob, silk suspension. Bimetallic thermometer with Réaumur scale in semicircular sector, blued steel "pointer" hand.Signed on dial and movement.Dim. Height 41 cm, width 22 cm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 3 - 5 - 01

Notes

Antide Janvier produced several clocks and regulators indicating the "Mouvement Périodique, Synodique et Journalier de la lune". He explained his reasoning in his book entitled "Recueil de Machines Composées et exécutées par Antide Janvier", 1828, pp. 23-25, pl. IX et X: "Several excellent workmen have often requested that I calculate a gear-train to indicate the raising and setting of the moon; some have shown me, quite proud of themselves, (clock cadratures under-dial works; striking-works; moion-works) giving the moving horizon the same variations as for sunrise and sunset; I have seen others that made the moon revolve in exactly 24 hours instead of the 24 hours 50' 28'' 20''', which make up the average lunar day. I have never been able to explain to them that the lines that determine the solar day, and of which the successive movements all take place within a year, could not be used to measure the lunar days, for which the same changes do not extend beyond one revolution of 27D 7H3' 4'', 6795, and that, in this manner, one would obtain only the average term between the various latitudes of the moon, whose orbit differs by 5 degrees on either side of the ecliptic on which the nodes retrograde with a speed of 6798D 4H 52' 5'', such that it would be necessary not only to take into consideration the periodic revolution of the moon, but also its revolution as compared to the nodes, to modify the movement of the horizon. One must possess a greater knowledge of celestial movemets than even the best watchmakers ordinarily have, to be certain of succeeding in such a task, and I sincerely doubt that those who undertake this work will gain much glory or even make the least profit by it, for I know better than anyone that this sort of machine does not lead to wealth."At the end of this somewhat unenthusiastic commentary Antide Janvier lists two tables of his calculations for the wheel trains necessary to show the periodic and synodic motions of the moon.A similar regulator, No. 406, is preserved in the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris.Mean lunar time:The mean lunar (synodic) month is the average interval in days between exact conjunctions of the Moon and the Sun (as observed from the Earth). The time for the moon to make one revolution around its axis is 27.32166 "our" days. It is the same as the time to return to the same position among the stars, therefore it is called the sidereal month (sider = star in Latin). When the Moon is orbiting the Earth, the Earth is also going around the Sun; and while the Moon is completing its orbit, the Eartmoves a twelfth of the way around the Sun. This means that starting from a New Moon, the Moon has to go around a full orbit and a bit more to get back in between the Earth and the Sun again. The time it takes for the Moon to go from one New Moon to the next is called a Synodic Month, and equals 29.530589 days.