I’ve often seen these (unmistakably French) ‘Comtoise Morbier’ clock face surrounds or headpieces. They’re usually still attached to clocks, so these two really spoke to me, in the way that displaced and orphaned things so often do!
The problem was that I just couldn’t choose between them:
one features various birds – obviously a favourite subject of mine
the other one illustrates a family at a graveside. There’s something so very French about that. I mean, we Brits would never show a mourning scene on a household object
I took them both and asked the guy to combine the postage costs (he didn’t)
I was very excited about them arriving. Unfortunately when they came they looked very rough, and I felt like I’d been ‘had’. I didn’t want to show Baz, so I left them in their meagre packing
But yesterday the rain scuppered my paint-stripping plans and instead I spent a happy hour with gloves and various pliers, gently teasing the thin brass repousse, which is very malleable but also easily torn. I then scrubbed them with a toothbrush and they came up a treat, as you can see
These relatively low-cost clocks were made in villages in the region of Franche-Compte, near the Swiss border, from around the year 1600. Various families in each village would be involved in making the different elements of the clocks, before final assembly by a finisher. At that stage the clock faces with their headpieces and workings were portable enough to be carried in groups of four on backpacks, along with their pendulums stored separately below, to be taken for sale further afield
The final purchaser could simply hang the clock with the pendulum exposed, or they could pay their local casket maker to make a long case for it
The earliest clocks had cast brass headpieces, but these were replaced by brass repousse – like mine – in the early 1800s. Production declined after the Treaty of Frankfurt in 1871 permitted the tax-free import of German clocks to France, and then apparently ceased after the First World War
It appeals to me that so many people had a hand in this industry, that the clocks were readily available, and that the wonderfully decorative designs were often based on simple everyday scenes from provincial life
And so these two inexpensive pieces, bought for reincarnation as mirror frames, have a long pedigree of practicality as well as beauty
Could there be anything more French?
Poshbird with Passion 
Oh they are lovely- and what an interesting history. What a great idea to use them for mirror frames- that would be gorgeous.
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What an interesting bit of ‘French’ history and post!
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I like them on their own, just beautiful ‘displaced and orphaned things’.
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So do I really. I think they look like a pair of Elton John’s glasses!
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Quite a few of these, in various states, have passed through my hands although one or two are still here – funny that. I have some with the clock face still intact and we went through a phase of buying those still attached to the workings and then hunting down the pendulum and weights with the idea of restoring a couple but this hasn’t happened yet
I must admit, I was quite shocked at the thinness of the metal when I first saw them and if your seller didn’t pack them well I can imagine they would have arrived a bit bent up. I never usually bother to try to clean them up but your two do look rather good so maybe I will. Did you use any sort of product on them or just soapy water?
Great idea for mirror frames – you must show us how they turn out.
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Hi, I didn’t use any product. I may add a touch of Rub n Buff to a few edges just to catch the light, but I like them as they are. Yes, the metal is so thin, but these were such a clever combination of decoration and economy, and they had to keep the weight down. Would love to see the ones you have and what you do with them too
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Really lovely – will look out for some on my next trip!
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Well, what great finds, worthy of your work and I’m so sure you will place them beautifully, a future post, maybe? It would be nice to see how you use them…
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I will definitely show them once they are finished. Glad you like them
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Your restoration efforts certainly did the trick. Lovely pieces.
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Fascinating background, great post, beautiful pieces.
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Wow. These are so beautiful. The graveside would, to be honest, freak me out a bit. Italians also are very fond of their momento mori. I’d rather stick with the birds!
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I totally understand about the graveside, but I just couldn’t resist it!
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Very cool, both alone and in the clocks. I recently listened to a podcast about the dwindling number of artisans who can repair clocks. Actually, the podcast is a murder mystery….
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