Lot 86

Presumably Nuremberg, height 680 mm, circa 1680
An impressive Baroque bracket clock with hour strike and date, in a rare "altar" case with elaborately carved ivory figures
Case: ebonised wood, ivory. Dial: firegilt brass and silvered copper. Movm.: rectangular full plate brass movement, 2 barrels for going and striking train, chain/fusee, 1 hammer / 1 bell, locking plate, verge escapement, short pendulum.
This baroque-style bracket clock is housed in an impressive tabernacle-shaped case on four bun feet. The front is flanked by a pair of spiral-twist columns and volutes. The mirrored open bell frame sits on a base plate decorated with diamond-shaped pattern; it is topped with baluster vases and ivory figures: on the left Judas Thaddaeus with a book, on the right his brother Simon the Zealot with a saw. The vanitas symbol at the top of the bell tower is the exquisitely carved figure of a man in the clutches of a skeleton carrying an hourglass.
The silvered dial has Roman hours and the date indication is set in a brass plate with floral engraving. The movement plate on the back is lavishly decorated with open work floral ornaments. Unfortunately the signature and the mark on the movement are illegible, but we can still pinpoint the origins of this remarkable masterpiece to the Nuremberg area.