95th Auction
2017/5/6
Lot 394
Johann Wilhelm Gottlob Butzengeiger in Tübingen, 152 x 89 x 152 mm, circa 1810
An important, South German expedition chronometer with early lever escapement by one of the most important pioneers of precision clockmaking
Case: walnut with brass handle, brass bowl type case, glazed on both sides. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, 113 mm, early lever escapement - lever with adjustable weight on threaded rod, large standing barrel, blued, spherical balance spring, comp. balance with 2 adjusting screws and 2 weights on S shaped bimetallic stripes.
Johann Wilhelm Gottlob Butzengeiger (or Buzengeiger) was born on June 25, 1778 in Simmozheim near Calw and grew up in Tübingen. In 1793 he began an apprenticeship with J.J Sauter, a clockmaker in Kornwestheim who had studied with the famous Philipp Matthäus Hahn. Butzengeiger ended his apprenticeship with Sauter because of bad health; he first went back to Tübingen but followed his brother Karl Ignatz later to Ansbach, where he worked with engineer to the royal Prussian court Du Mericeau. In 1804 Butzengeiger established his own workshop in Tübingen and began working for the University of Tübingen in the same year.
Butzengeiger also started working closely with the astronomer, mathematician, physicist and university professor J.G.F. Bohnenberger around this time - a cooperation that should last several decades. Butzengeiger created many training and research instruments for Bohnenberger and they sold their telescopes, sextants, barometers and timekeepers all over Europe.
After Bohnenberger‘s death in 1831 Butzengeiger took on more commissions from outside Tübingen - one of his closest partners was H.C. Schumacher, the founder of the observatory in Altona.
Around 1834 Butzengeiger suffered mercury poisoning during an accident and it took him a long time to recover from it; he had been in ill health anyway for a while and it increasingly prevented him from working. J.W.G. Butzengeiger, one of the pioneers of precision clockmaking in Southern Germany died on October 26, 1836.
Butzengeiger's chronometer, however, is still in excellent condition after two centuries; the original wooden case alone has suffered some wear. The movement with the large lever, the prototype bimetallic balance and the tapering blued balance spring is a magnificent example of the early days of German chronometer making.
An important, South German expedition chronometer with early lever escapement by one of the most important pioneers of precision clockmaking
Case: walnut with brass handle, brass bowl type case, glazed on both sides. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, 113 mm, early lever escapement - lever with adjustable weight on threaded rod, large standing barrel, blued, spherical balance spring, comp. balance with 2 adjusting screws and 2 weights on S shaped bimetallic stripes.
Johann Wilhelm Gottlob Butzengeiger (or Buzengeiger) was born on June 25, 1778 in Simmozheim near Calw and grew up in Tübingen. In 1793 he began an apprenticeship with J.J Sauter, a clockmaker in Kornwestheim who had studied with the famous Philipp Matthäus Hahn. Butzengeiger ended his apprenticeship with Sauter because of bad health; he first went back to Tübingen but followed his brother Karl Ignatz later to Ansbach, where he worked with engineer to the royal Prussian court Du Mericeau. In 1804 Butzengeiger established his own workshop in Tübingen and began working for the University of Tübingen in the same year.
Butzengeiger also started working closely with the astronomer, mathematician, physicist and university professor J.G.F. Bohnenberger around this time - a cooperation that should last several decades. Butzengeiger created many training and research instruments for Bohnenberger and they sold their telescopes, sextants, barometers and timekeepers all over Europe.
After Bohnenberger‘s death in 1831 Butzengeiger took on more commissions from outside Tübingen - one of his closest partners was H.C. Schumacher, the founder of the observatory in Altona.
Around 1834 Butzengeiger suffered mercury poisoning during an accident and it took him a long time to recover from it; he had been in ill health anyway for a while and it increasingly prevented him from working. J.W.G. Butzengeiger, one of the pioneers of precision clockmaking in Southern Germany died on October 26, 1836.
Butzengeiger's chronometer, however, is still in excellent condition after two centuries; the original wooden case alone has suffered some wear. The movement with the large lever, the prototype bimetallic balance and the tapering blued balance spring is a magnificent example of the early days of German chronometer making.
Sold
estimated
12.000—16.000 €
Price realized
18.600 €