Small Mantel Clock by Victor-Athanase Pierret

A charming miniature mantel clock timepiece in walnut case with and engraved gilded mask and silvered dial. The eight day spring driven movement with pendulum locking knut and adjustable pendulum. The back plate is stamped with the distinctive V.A.P. trade mark, as is the door lock. The clock has the retail label of John Carter Clockmaker to the Royal Navy. Note the single central foot at the back of the case that prevents the clock from rocking on an uneven surface.

Victor-Athanase Pierret (1806 - 1893)
Victor-Athanse Pierret was born 1806 in Bucy-les-Pierrepont. He began his five year apprenticeship with Rolin at the age of 13. Later he moved to Paris and settled in the Rue des Bons-Enfants no. 21 when he was 24. Pierret created pendulum clocks with and without calender indicator, cases for ship’s chronometers, chronometer escapements with temperature compensation, and night light clocks with a pendulum. At the London Exhibition of 1851 he presented an alarm clock and a pendulum clock with a globe. In 1853 Pierret applied for a patent for a new date indication device, in 1855 he patented an 8-day power reserve movement.
Pierret created his own watchmaking tools to increase his productivity. In 1865 he gave up half his house and retired to Neuilly, where he continued his researches. In 1885 he published a treatise entitled "Horlogerie, outillage et mécanique". Victor-Athanase Pierret died in 1893 and in his will he stipulated an annual prize of 600 francs to be paid to "a watchmaker with an original idea“.

Source: Tardy, "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Francais", Paris 1972, p. 521

17cm H x 12.5cm W x 8cm D