A RARE EARLY 19TH CENTURY FRENCH GILT BRONZE LOUIS PHILIPPE PERIOD SWINGING PORTICO CLOCK BY HUMBERT A METZ the architectural case of Neo-Classical style, with a pair of columns over a plinth base and four toupie feet, the pediment mounted with a swan and acanthus gilt bronze relief, the Roman dial within a floral cast bezel and mounted at the base of the bi-metallic, grid iron and temperature compensated pendulum, which swings from a knife edge suspension at the top of the case, the pendulum pointer swings within a raised bronze rectangular well fitted to the plinth base, with pin in the rear which engages the crutch movement, the twin train movement striking on a bell, 42.5cm high In working order but not fully tested or guaranteed. Humbert is listed in Tardy as working in Metz between 1834 and 1840. For a similar clock see Christie's, Amsterdam, February 14, 2006, lot 726. Related Literature: Derek Roberts, Mystery, Novelty and Fantasy Clocks, Schiffer, Pennsylvania, 1999, p.140, fig.12-4. Tardy, French Clocks, Part II, Paris, 1981, p.372.