102nd Auction
2020/6/29
Lot 266
Mattias Heidrich, Hamburg, 135 x 110 x 90 mm, formerly dated February 1683
An important, hour striking miniature table clock with day and night indication by sun and moon dial in a silver case, decorated completely with filigree work, from the former Raymond Laforêt collection "Au Vieux Cadran", Paris
Case: silver and gold, filigree work, glazed side panels, hinged back door with mounted bell. Dial: silver and bronze, Champlevé. Movm.: rectangular brass full plate movement, signed, chain/fusee, count wheel, 1 hammer, short pendulum.
The case is decorated all-over with exquisite, silver wire filigree work and has the form of a Greek temple with fluted Corinthian pilasters, a pediment and different kinds of gold embellisments – literature describes this timepiece as "curieux travail de filigrane". As the structure only has a total height of 11 cm, it looks like a small, elaborately ornamented jewel case with integrated clock. The "double" dial with day and night indication by sun and moon display blends perfectly with the case. It features retrograde Roman hours for day- and nighttime and an outer minute ring with Arabic numerals. The upper half has a semi-circular cut-out to display either the engraved, gold sun hours or the moon phases with engraved silver moon and stars – sun and moon sections share a disc that revolves once in 24 hours. When the sun sets on the right, the moon rises on the left.
This sun and moon dial is very unusual in a table clock – to our knowledge this is the only such piece. It is documented that the clock originally rested on a lapis lazuli base and had - in addition to name and place of its maker – also the date of its creation, February 1676. This base was unfortunately lost and replaced by a wooden base with a brass sign, which copied the original inscription - so that the date of the clock’s making can be accepted as true. We cannot say, however, if this timepiece was truly the very first one with day and night indication by sun and moon dial because pocket watches with this novel type of dial emerged in England and the Netherlands at around the same time. The first such watches are dating from around 1680.
It is, however, certain that this is the earliest clock with sun and moon dial made in Germany, far away from the strongholds of the horological industry. The clock was made by Mattias Heidrich (or Heydrich), who worked as a clockmaker in Hamburg in the late 17th century. A verge pocket watch with astronomical dial is also attributed to Heidrich (William L. Scolnik, "A Catalog of Watches").
Provenance:
- Collection "Au Vieux Cadran", Raymond Laforêt, Paris
- Swiss private collection
This clock was described in detail in "Klassik Uhren", editions 2/2009 and 3/2009.
An important, hour striking miniature table clock with day and night indication by sun and moon dial in a silver case, decorated completely with filigree work, from the former Raymond Laforêt collection "Au Vieux Cadran", Paris
Case: silver and gold, filigree work, glazed side panels, hinged back door with mounted bell. Dial: silver and bronze, Champlevé. Movm.: rectangular brass full plate movement, signed, chain/fusee, count wheel, 1 hammer, short pendulum.
The case is decorated all-over with exquisite, silver wire filigree work and has the form of a Greek temple with fluted Corinthian pilasters, a pediment and different kinds of gold embellisments – literature describes this timepiece as "curieux travail de filigrane". As the structure only has a total height of 11 cm, it looks like a small, elaborately ornamented jewel case with integrated clock. The "double" dial with day and night indication by sun and moon display blends perfectly with the case. It features retrograde Roman hours for day- and nighttime and an outer minute ring with Arabic numerals. The upper half has a semi-circular cut-out to display either the engraved, gold sun hours or the moon phases with engraved silver moon and stars – sun and moon sections share a disc that revolves once in 24 hours. When the sun sets on the right, the moon rises on the left.
This sun and moon dial is very unusual in a table clock – to our knowledge this is the only such piece. It is documented that the clock originally rested on a lapis lazuli base and had - in addition to name and place of its maker – also the date of its creation, February 1676. This base was unfortunately lost and replaced by a wooden base with a brass sign, which copied the original inscription - so that the date of the clock’s making can be accepted as true. We cannot say, however, if this timepiece was truly the very first one with day and night indication by sun and moon dial because pocket watches with this novel type of dial emerged in England and the Netherlands at around the same time. The first such watches are dating from around 1680.
It is, however, certain that this is the earliest clock with sun and moon dial made in Germany, far away from the strongholds of the horological industry. The clock was made by Mattias Heidrich (or Heydrich), who worked as a clockmaker in Hamburg in the late 17th century. A verge pocket watch with astronomical dial is also attributed to Heidrich (William L. Scolnik, "A Catalog of Watches").
Provenance:
- Collection "Au Vieux Cadran", Raymond Laforêt, Paris
- Swiss private collection
This clock was described in detail in "Klassik Uhren", editions 2/2009 and 3/2009.
estimated
14.000—25.000 €
Price realized
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