An extremely rare relatively small Act of Parliament or Tavern clock made circa 1790.

The eight-day duration movement has the unusual feature for a clock of this type of striking the hours on a bell; the majority only having timepiece movements with no strike at all. The barrels are of a very small size to facilitate a small drop of the weights and therefore allow the full eight-day duration within such a small case.

The twenty-one-inch cream painted round wooden dial has black Roman numerals and brass hands.

The lacquered case is decorated with raised chinoiserie work in wonderful condition with the scene on the door being of typical Oriental design depicting two ladies talking within a garden setting beneath a garden house with a pagoda top. The well-shaped ears below the dial are decorated with floral work with further decoration to the sides and to the base. To the top of the trunk, below the dial is painted the maker's signature Perinot, Paddington .

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Height: 44 inches (112cms)

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Abraham Jean Perinot was born on the 3rd of November 1869 and baptised on the 10th of November in the church of La Patente in Soho, London. His parents were Hugenot refugees with his father Jean originating from Capelle in Picardy and his mother Anne Henriette from Vitry le Francois.

On the 3rd of August 1764 Abraham Perinot, by now a widower aged 75, married a widow Mary Corbet in the Parish of St. Marylebone. He must have spent a t least 32 years of his life in the St. Marylebone area of London because information obtained from the Hugenot Society of London shows that he lived in Bell Lane from 1751 until 1754, and then Lisson Green until 1761 and Paddington Road until 1766. In the Rate Books of the Parish of Paddington a Mr. Perinot is listed in 1773, 1774 and 1775 in a ward known as 'The Square'. This ward included the south and west side of Edgware Road where he was living at the time of his death.

On the 9th of February 1782 he made an application for entry to the French Protestant Hospital in London where is application stated that he was suffering, poor and in bed with asthma. A later entry, along side his application, simply states Mort.

The Parish registers of St. James, Paddington contain the entry 17th February 1782, Buried Abraham Perinot, Paddington with his name spelt incorrectly. He was therefore aged 92 at the time of his death. Oddly a mistake in the hospital register gave his age as 81.

His will, proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury was found in March 1783, Middlesex and began In the name of God, Amen. I Abraham Perinot of the Parish of Paddington in the County of Middlesex, Clockmaker....

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This clock is recorded and discussed in The Tavern Clock by Martin Gatto, published by Tavernicus Publishing 2010 on page 163 alongside other Tavern or Act of Parliament clocks by this maker, two being signed for London and three for Paddington with the author describing this example as the rarest of the trio (of Paddington clocks) as it is only 44 inches high and is a two-train clock... with the attraction of the three-quarter size and striking into the bargain... The solid brass hands are elegantly executed... Beautifully cut shaped ears, gilded... etc.

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