A rare French brass and rhodium plated novelty revolving double ship s wheel mantel timepiece with aneroid barometer, twin thermometers and compass Retailed by Elkington and Company, Paris, late 19th century The four pillar single fusee timepiece movement with gilt platform for the sprung bimetallic balance and lever with pallets engaging with a vertical escape wheel mounted between the movement plates, the backplate stamped with monogram R.E.D. within circular medallion incorporating BREVETTE, PARIS to circumference and numbered 76F to lower margin, the circular white Roman numeral enamel dial inscribed ELKINGTON & Co., PARIS to centre with blued steel spade hands behind thick bevel glass within heavy cast brass bezel, the case modelled as a double ship s wheel with surmount formed as a gimballed compass on baluster upright over the timepiece set in the wheel hub opposing an aneroid barometer annotated in barometric inches and with the usual observations, the sides with twin opposing alcohol and mercury Fahrenheit thermometers over base modelled as a capstan incorporating twin ratchets with ball finials engaging a wheel at the base allowing the whole assembly rotate clockwise only, on rectangular brass edged red marble canted plinth base, 29cm (11.5ins) high. The timepiece movement in the current lot can be directly compared to that of a circular carriage timepiece illustrated and described in Allix, Charles and Bonnert, Peter CARRIAGE CLOCKS, Their history and development pages 213-4.