Antique American Clocks January 2020
418. $600
Louis Boname Neuchatel-style mantel clock, ca. 1895. An uncommon French antique clock
style; not boulle (tortoise shell), but the same shape (Neuchatel, named after a town in Switzerland on the border with France). The wood surface is painted with flowers and at the bottom front are two lovers sitting in a garden. The images are a bit dark
but still visible. There also are painted flowers on the sides of the case, and the entire case is lacquered and has a lovely
antique patina. There are brass/gilded ornaments all around the 15-inch case, with a large vase at the top. The 5-inch
porcelain dial is practically perfect except for some cracks at the rating adjustment arbor. On both sides of the case are brass,
fabric-covered screens to allow the gong sound to be heard; the clock is running and striking, with a single strike on the hour and
half-hour. I can’t exclude the possibility that it should be counting the hours on the hour, but I did not pull the movement
to inspect. The movement is signed Ls. Boname, Seloncourt. I found one other example in the Antique Clocks Price Guide,
selling for $1600 in 2011 at Schmitt’s. $600-$1200.