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A rare and important Victorian gilt bronze and glass mystery clock by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin from his Fourth Series, signed on the circular transparent glass dial Robert Houdin and also signed and numbered on the movement Robert Houdin Paris 10. The dial with Roman numerals and a pair of gilt arrow hands for the hours and minutes. The movement, hidden within the oval base with platform lever escapement, striking the hour and half hour on a gong by means of a count wheel. The dial and gilt bezel on a foliate support above a transparent glass column upon a fluted gilt base supported by four mythical creatures, all resting on a red velvet and brass inlaid ebonized oval base on ball feet. This clock has been recently restored by West Dean College, West Sussex, England.
Paris, date circa 1850
Height 57 cm.
Literature: Derek Roberts, “Mystery, Novelty & Fantasy Clocks”, 1999, p. 228, pl. 19-12, A & B, illustrating a similar mystery clock from Robert-Houdin’s Fourth Series.
When Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) first showed his mystery clocks to the public during the late 1830s, they were astounded to see that they appeared to work by magic since the hands were seemingly suspended within a transparent glass dial and unattached to any mechanism, yet they still told the time. Their infinite mystery still continues to astonish all who marvel at their ingenuity even when one understands their mechanics. The secret of this mystery clock is that the glass column is composed of two concentric tubes. The outer one is fixed but the inner one, which is invisible to the eye, is free to rotate as it transmits motion from the movement, hidden in the base, to the dial. The dial is also made in two parts with the numerals and the maker’s name painted on a fixed disc. The hands, attached to a tiny gear train concealed behind, are moved by a second disc with a finely notched rim that engages the inner column. This feat of horological engineering belongs to Robert-Houdin’s Fourth Series of clocks and was the first to include a minute hand. In all he created six series, all of different appearance but based on the same working principle. Interestingly it was this mechanism that was the inspiration for mystery clocks made by the renowned jeweller Cartier during the twentieth century.
So impressed were the public by Robert Houdin’s mystery clocks when showcased at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie Française in 1839, that Robert-Houdin was awarded a bronze medal. This was followed by many other awards (including a gold medal at the Universelle Exposition in 1844) and other accolades such as him being elected a member of the Société des Sciences et Lettres de Loir et Cher and also the Société des Gens de Lettres as well as a posthumous member of the Académie des Sciences. Robert-Houdin was not only a horological and mechanical genius but also a superb showman for he was a magician and illusionist of unprecedented talent, who combined sleight of hand with demonstrations at numerous soirées. There he showed a number of his newly made automata such as the “Enchanted Vase” or “Marvellous Orange Tree” as well a “Magic Clock” that was seemingly stopped or went and sounded a bell on the command of his voice - a feat that was achieved with the use of electricity. In addition to electricity as well as magnetism, Robert-Houdin experimented in the field of ophthalmology and wrote several papers on the subject and even invented a mechanism designed to examine one’s own retina.
However his beginnings showed little evidence that one day he would become a national hero nor that he would be asked to give private performances in front of Napoleon III as well as Queen Victoria and her family. Jean Eugène was born in Blois, where his father Prosper Robert worked as a local clockmaker but hoped that his son would not follow his profession. Despite such opposition the young Jean Eugène would often sneak into his father’s workshop to admire his clocks and tools and was also taught to make small mechanical toys by a neighbour. Following a prolonged childhood illness which confined him to home, by eight years old he was well enough to attend a local school and then at eleven was sent to a boarding school at Orléans. Then in 1823 he reluctantly began work as a clerk for a solicitor in Blois. During his leisure time Jean Eugène constructed automata and in 1825 successfully persuaded his father that he should leave the legal profession and become a clockmaker. By then his father had retired and his business was being run by Jean Eugène’s cousin and dearest friend Jean-Martin Robert, under whom he trained. Having completed his apprenticeship, in 1828 Jean Eugène worked for Noiret, a clockmaker in Tours. That same year he suffered a bout of acute food poisoning whilst walking home and was rescued by a famous conjurer Giovanni Torrini who nursed him back to health and set the seeds for his future path.
Having left Torrini Jean Eugène returned to Blois where he worked for Monsieur Blau, repairing and cleaning clocks. Soon after, in 1829, he was left a bequest from his grandfather, which enabled him to set up a light comedy company and travel to Paris. There he met his first wife Josèphe Cécile Eglatine Houdin, daughter of the famous horologist, Jacques-François Houdin, who was had previously worked under the great Abraham-Louis Breguet. After their marriage, Jean Eugène changed his surname to “Robert-Houdin” and with this came a great rebirth for the artist whose career as horologist, scientist, inventor and illusionist soon soared to incredible heights. Even after his death from pneumonia on 13th June 1871 his notoriety persisted – so much so that master illusionist and escapologist Ehrich Weiss paid him the greatest tribute by changing his name to Harry Houdini.
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