French Industrial Automaton Clock, Fire Department Steam Pump

Very rare so-called "industrial" automaton clock, fire engine steam pump, late 19th century by Diette et Hour.

A restoration report, additional information and videos are available upon request.

- Source of inspiration for the model:

The Durenne et Krebs model 1888 steam pump was used by the Paris fire department from the moment it was introduced. This fire engine independently delivered water to a fire station and maintained a strong and constant flow. The patent for its invention was issued on October 8, 1890, and bears the number 2087181.

The Diette et Hour clock and bronze workshop is known for its industrial clock models, sometimes animated (in the style of Guilmet). D. Roussialle, in his work on the 1889 Paris World's Fair, describes the works of this workshop as follows:

"The diversity of genres in the numerous exhibits attracts a fairly considerable crowd from morning to night and keeps them there for quite a long time by the curiosity it excites. One admires a small locomotive that seems to be running at full speed. Another remains with his gaze fixed on a miniature steam hammer, or in front of small high or low pressure machines, or even rotating lighthouses presenting to the amazed eyes different lighting effects, like our large lighthouses on the coasts of the Ocean. And all these nice little machines turn, move, not by steam, not by electricity, but by a simple clock spring (...).

Diette et Hour has long specialized in these interesting little mechanisms that are certainly amusing while telling the time and also instructive, giving an exact idea of ??the functioning of these various devices on a large scale."