A fine and possibly unique mid 18th century French quarter striking cartel clock with moonphase and perpetual calendarThe movement and dial signed Vander Cruse a Paris. The case by Antoine Foullet.The waisted case decorated with hand painted flowers and floral groups on a red ground, surmounted by a ho-ho bird within openwork scrolls on a canted caddy over elaborate mounts, the door depicting Aesop's Fable of the Fox and the Crane, on the original curved wall bracket, the 12.25 inch, 13-piece white enamel Roman and Arabic dial with good gilt hands for the hours and minutes and a blued steel hand for the concentric date, the signed centre with large aperture for the rotating painted moonphase marked 'ge et phases de la Lune', further set with two apertures for the month (Le Mois) and day of the week (Jour de la semaine), the large movement with rectangular plates united by six tapering pillars, with anchor escapement and twin outside countwheels for the quarters and hours, signed along the lower edge Vander Cruse A Paris The clock 120cm. Total height including bracket 160cm. 注脚The Aesop's fable of Fox and the Crane was first recorded in the collection of Phaedrus. The fox invites the crane to eat with him and provides a bowl of soup, which the fox can lap up easily, but the crane cannot drink with its beak. The crane then invites the fox to dinner, which is served in a narrow-necked vessel. This time it is easy for the crane to access, but impossible for the fox. The moral of the story is that the trickster must expect trickery in return.A similar cartel clock decorated with the Fox and Crane stamped for Antoine Foullet is illustrated in Kjellberg 'Encyclopedie de la pendule Francaise'. 1997, page 85, Fig C.Antoine Foullet became a Master ebeniste in 1749 and died in 1775. He specialised in clock cases.Provenance:Purchased in France circa 2004.