Lot 1674 D α

A Bern ormolu night clock

Auction 1230 - overview Cologne
17.11.2023, 17:30 - Decorative Arts - Furniture
Estimate: 6.000 € - 8.000 €
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A Bern ormolu night clock

Ormolu and silver plated bronze/brass, wrought iron. Eight day running with thread suspension, large spring movement and striking, small spring movement for an alarm with two hammers on a bell and repetition. Mobile silver plated dial with pierced Latin hours, the upper quarter not backed with brass plates. The upper hand, pendulum and striking hammer lost. Four curved chased folding legs. Hand and pendulum lost. H 36.5 cm.
Around 1780.

The way this rare clock works is illuminating, in the truest sense of the word: a lit candle placed behind it makes the night hour visible. The special feature is the rotating dial, so that the correct time is always shown at the top.

Provenance

Acquired from Hülsmann in 1953. From a Rhenish private collection.

Literature

Cf. Maurice, Die deutsche Räderuhr. Zur Kunst und Technik des mechanischen Zeitmessers im deutschen Sprachraum, vol. II, Munich 1976, fig. 791, the same clock in the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin collection. Klaus Maurice mentions another specimen signed B. Blaser that turned up at a Bern auction in 1970.