Lot Essay
This unusual clock depicts two ships in battle with an armed tower. Despite the gravity of the moment, with the vessel on the right appearing to be sinking, the scene has humorous elements; in the centre a face peeks out from the base of the tower, while a rather portly figure has removed his hat and wears a wide grin. Such details combined with the staged composition perhaps indicate that this is a scene from contemporary theatre; an earlier precedent for this can be found in a clock depicting a scene from the comic opera, The Deserter, illustrated in Tardy, French Clocks the World Over, Paris, 1981, Book II, p. 111.