Object History
This remarkable automaton industrial clock is one of the largest and most interesting of a type made by André Romain Guilmet which include maritime models, lighthouses and industrial themes such as steam hammers, and as here, a steam-driven water pump.
It has two mechanisms, one for the clock and one for the flywheel which operates the revolving great wheel simulating a steam-driven water pump.
Its principal appeal is the novelty of the piston and crankshaft driving the rotating wheel. The conception reflects 19th century industrial innovation during the age of steam, coupling artistry and precision clockmaking to create unique objects, designed as curiosities and conversation pieces.
During the era of the World’s Fairs, science mingled with magic played to the public’s desire to be entertained. André Romain Guilmet understood this well and, to capitalise on the enthusiasm for scientific marvels, specialised in “mystery clocks”. These instruments, for which he obtained several patents, featured an ingenious mechanism that gave the illusion of a pendulum oscillating without any external impulse. While the mechanism for this automaton clock is not strictly speaking “mysterious”, it is nonetheless highly ingenious.
The great variety of Guilmet’s different industrial clocks also made them supremely collectible. Handmade with great precision and employing costly gilt-metalwork and marble, of all of Guilmet’s industrial clocks, this is an especially large and rare example.
