Mantel clock in the form of the stern of a ship with a sailor at the wheel forming the adjustable compound pendulum. Originally silver plated. The clock dates from the late 1890s and was one of a large range of novelty clocks, many of them created on industrial themes, which probably first appeared in the 1889 Paris Exposition, but were produced for ten years or more thereafter. The main producer of the movements was the French manufacturer Guilmet of Paris, and this one dates from about 1900.

The sailor is designed in the form of a compound pendulum and swings from a steel crossover suspension mounted just below his feet so he appears to rock from side to side as the clock runs. In other respects the movement is the standard 8 day French 'pendule de Paris', with half hour striking. Typically for these novelty clocks by Guilmet, the case is made of silvered brass, and bronze-patinated brass.