Fine Mantel Clock by Raingo Freres

An attractive French mantel clock with a silk suspension in the ‘Pendule portative’ style with a decorative carrying handle. The glass is removed upwards to wind the clock and set the time via the tiny ebony handle. The dial is vitreous enamel showing the makers name and Roman numerals, it does have very slight chips around the winding holes but you have to be very close to see them! The clock is of 7 day duration and has a bell strike for the hour and the half hour. The case is Rosewood with boxwood inlays of geometric style. A glass aperture to the top and one to each side in a diamond shape. The rear door opens to reveal a fully overhauled mechanism stamped with the Raingo stamp. The clock was made and retailed by Raingo of Paris who produced superb clocks throughout the mid 19th Century. Zacharie Joseph Raingo (1775 – 1847), a clockmaker was born in Belgium in 1775. Z.J.Raingo specialised in creating astronomical or Orrery clocks. One of these a planetary pendulum clock made in 1824, was purchased by King George IV of England and is now housed in Windsor Castle. When servicing this clock we discovered that the spring had been lightly scratched with the date 1846, we think this may date the clock quite accurately.