A very rare antique French Industrial series 'Sailboat' compendium clock. Set on four gilt bronze feet and a white onyx base. The silvered bronze hull of the boat with two gilt bronze bouys hanging on the side, as well as the anchor, also in gilt bronze. The gilt bronze tiller set with a real and operating binnacled compass in the shape of a ships wheel. Very good detail on the fine gilt bronze deck of the boat set with a lifebuoy, with gilt bronze 'rope' wrapped around it, also wraps around two cleats to give the impression of a real sailboat. In the centre of the deck is set the silvered bronze barometer with thickly wrapped gilt bronze 'rope' round it. The gilt bronze mast, with further ropes and pulleys, in the shape of a gaff rig. The silvered bronze sail is wonderfully textured, with the gilt bronze rope threaded through the sides and bottom. The clock which hangs from the 'gaff' is set in a silvered bronze case, and is of 8 day duration, with platform escapement and the back of the movement numbered 103. In Derick Roberts book 'Mystery, novelty and fantasy clocks', pp. 256 can be seen a very different model, of a dismasted boat, which has a very similar shaped hull and an identical compass/ships wheel. A fascinating and very stylish French Industrial Series clock dating from circa 1885. 13 inches high by 10 inches long and 5.5inches deep.