A rare early 19th century French matt and burnished ormolu street porter 'Harlequin' timepiece. In original fire gilded mercury ormolu. Harlequin wearing his trademark diamond patterned suit, his hat with horn ( or hare's tail) and baton in his hand, carries time on his back. Miniature french empire clocks of street porters are quite rare, and featuring the Harlequin is rarer still, and not a model we have come across before. Harlequin was a principal member of the Commedia dell'arte. The fine white enamel, convex dial with hours marked in arabic numerals. The movement is a 30 hour verge fusee. 19cm high by 13cm long and 7cm deep