This is a French country wall clock from the late 1800’s. The clock has graced the walls in Daniele’s family’s residences in Nancy, France, for about 100 years.
These clocks have a motor and a regulator.
The motor in this clock is a pair of iron weights on a pulley chain. Every morning Paul pulls the chain on the left side down to the ground and over 24 hours the weight on the right side slowly descends animating the hour and minute hands.
The time regulator is the pendulum working with gears with teeth. I’m thinking it’s a Morbier which is the name given to the provincial clocks made in a farm town in France just below the Swiss border.
If they were off 10 or 15 minutes a day it wasn’t so bad because the church bells were used to correct the time.
Of historical interest, Galileo designed the pendulum around 1380. Huygens in Holland built the first pendulum regulated clock in 1657.
(Editor’s note: Palisades resident Howard Yonet has an interesting collection of curios from around the world and with his permission, Circling the News is publishing one a week. About the collector: Dr. Howard Yonet was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and attended Brooklyn College. He went to Baylor Medical School and then returned to do an internship at Bellevue Hospital. Yonet completed his residency at the Manhattan V.A. and the Montefiore Hospital. During this time, he went skiing in Vermont and the Catskills, and while traveling found barns filled with early American pieces. This led to his interest in American Antiques.
In 1965, he married Daniele, who was originally from Nancy, France. During the Vietnam War, Yonet was drafted as a medical officer and stationed in Landstuhl, Germany (1966-1969). This was close to the French border, which meant he and Daniele and could visit her family.
While abroad, the Yonets took weekend trips through France and Italy, purchasing many interesting pieces at flea markets.
The family settled in Pacific Palisades in 1970 and Yonet practiced general radiology until 2006. He continued to acquire antiques and collectables at estate and garage sales and the Salvation Army Store. He also enjoyed looking for collectibles while traveling in Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Massachusetts. Daniele’s family helped add to his collection.)
WONDERFUL! I love this item and the history. Thank you Howard, for all of your interesting items and taking the time to do the research. I find the history behind each item in your collection a plus for your readers. Can’t wait to see what you will send us next…