French work circa 1900 Eiffel Tower clock in... Lot 273

French work circa 1900 Eiffel Tower clock in black-stained wood and brass. The white enamelled dial shows the hours in Arabic numerals and the minutes in dotted lines. It stands on a square base. Brocot suspension. Height 81 Width 29 Depth 29 cm. (attack of xylophagous insects, mechanism to be reviewed) Built for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle as a showpiece of French industrial genius, it was designed by Stephen Sauvestre, chief architect for Eiffel, who reworked Maurice Koechlin's original project. On completion in March 1889, it became the world's tallest tower, a record it held for almost 40 years. Designed to be short-lived, it was reused for scientific purposes, as a meteorological and radio relay tower. Now the international symbol of Paris and France, its image is alternately reviled or acclaimed by artists, who reuse its instantly recognizable form.