293. 293W Exceptional Louis XV period tortoise shell carillon and automaton cartel with gilt bronze ornamentation, and its original console, by Charles Balthazar et Fils An exceptional and rare mid-18th century French gilt metal mounted, tortoiseshell quarter-striking, musical cartel clock with automata figure, on the original wall bracket Charles Balthazar et Fils, Paris The waisted case surmounted by a twin-handled urn over applied foliate mounts, the sides with large elaborate pierced brass sound frets of open foliate scroll work, another sound fret set into the back door, all supported on four raised feet on the original matching wall bracket. The 13 inch (32cms) one-piece white enamel Roman and Arabic dial with pierced and engraved gilt brass hands set over a recessed niche in which sits the carved-wood and painted-porcelain automata figure of a female conductor, her hair tied back with a ribbon and wearing a laced-edged dress, in her right hands she holds a baton. The niche is framed by applied cast columns and a pair of palm trees on a rockwork base, over the tune selection subsidiary dial marked I to VIII and flanked by the flowing engraved signature Balthazar Cles. et Fils, a Paris, all protected by a shaped glazed door. The clock movement with rectangular plates and silk-suspended verge escapement, the quarter strike controlled by an outside countwheel acting on a pair of stacked bells and hammers, the music activated once an hour via a snail and let-off lever to the pinned wooden barrel below playing on thirteen pipes, this movement driven by chain linked to a pair of massive barrels and chain fusees mounted in the caddy, 1.06m (3ft 2.7ins) high. Y symbol This lot is subject to CITES regulations. It is the buyer's responsibility to investigate such regulations and to obtain any necessary import or export certificates for export outside the European Union. Please contact the department for further details. This lot is subject to CITES restrictions. In the event of export outside the European Union, formalities will have to be carried out and will be the responsibility of the buyer. Please contact the department for further details.