Help with identification

[adehuxley]

Hi all, I have been given a large mantel clock and am unable to identify the maker. It has an oval mark with the letters A and B seperated with a star. Photo attached. many thanks, Adrian

[Jay]

huxley

This is from an old thread some years past... perhaps it will give a clue?

A speculation is that the A*B in an oval is one of the marks used by Achille Brocot, a rather eminent maker in the 19th century. I say a speculation because Brocot has been identified with other configurations of A and B as well (AB within a star, for example). A few years ago Christie's identified the mark you have that appeared on a carriage clock in one of their auctions as that of Brocot, while Charles Allix in his carriage clock book lists your mark separately from that of Brocot and terms it a mark of an unknown maker. This mark also appears in Kochmann's trademark book as unidentified.

Jay

[adehuxley]

Hi Jay, many thanks for that. It ties in rather neatly actually as the dial is marked 'Henry Marc - Paris' and these two makers were around at the same time. I know that Henry marc bought movements from other makers and this appears to be the case here. Adrian

[Tom Wotruba]

A while back there was some discussion of this mark, and some evidence that it might be the mark of Reed & Company of Paris. I agree that in one of its past auction catalogs Christies did identify a clock with this mark as made by Achille Brocot, but it is not the typical Brocot mark (which is an AB inside a star). I don't know anything more about Reed & Company, but would certainly like to hear from anyone who does. Incidentally, Henry Marc was most likely a retailer. To quote Allix: "There seems to be no evidence whether Marc was a maker or simply a retailer (probably the latter)." So there are some puzzles with this clock, I guess.
Tom Wotruba