Alard François Joseph Gamot

Alard François Joseph Gamot was a french clockmaker from Lille in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He held the title of Graveur de la Monnaie (Engraver of the Mint) and became a clockmaker in 1790, according to Tardy (Tardy, Dictionnaire des Horlogers Français, 1972 Edition, p. 244). His workshop was located at 10 rue de la Monnaie in Lille. The signature “Gamot à Lille”, found on a clock known as “Le Porteur de café” (“The Coffee Bearer”), is probably the signature of this clockmaker.

It would appear that he worked with his father, probably Aimé Louis Gamot (1776-1862), also a clockmaker located on Rue de la Monnaie in Lille. There is indeed a clock signed “Gamot Père à Lille” dated around 1805, of the model known as “Hortensia” designed in honor of Queen Hortense (illustrated in François Duesberg, Catalogue du musée François Duesberg: arts décoratifs 1775-1825, p. 71).