90th Auction

2014/11/15

Lot 431

Thomas Thomsen à Amsteldam, Height 860 mm, circa 1820
A wonderful and splendid Amsterdam pendulum clock with digital time "Pendule à Circles de Tournant", with half hour/hour strike and musical movement with several tunes that activates on the hour and can also be activated manually
Case: wood, gilt. Rectangular silk-covered base on four bun feet for the musical movement, walls with applied stylized open work egg and dart ornamentation. Block-shaped top part with solid frame and open work sides; in the centre are oval medallions decorated with laurel leaves showing relief portraits of famous philosophers: on the front, Montesquieu, to the left Aristotle and to the right Heraclitus of Ephesus. On the right side is a sculpture of the Greek philosopher Epicurus captured in contrapposto. He wears a garland with fruit and flowers on his head (symbolizing his doctrine of nature); he holds a mirror in his hand and looks at himself (symbolizing his theories of cognition and ethics). He leans on the block-shaped clock with his right arm; from its centre rises a flaming vase that shows digital time. On the left side is a small Cupid (as a symbol of love) who indicates the time with his arrow. Dial: two revolving white enamel Roman and Arabic chapter rings. Movm.: high quality square brass full plate movement, signed, 2 barrels, 1 hammer / 1 bell, on reverse side fine matted applied rack strike levers, verge escapement, silk suspended short pendulum. Musical movement: heavy brass movement with chain/fusee and governor, pinned brass barrel, 78 vibrating blades.
Thomas Thomsen was a prominent clockmaker who was active in Amsterdam circa 1760. He was probably the father of T. Thomson with whom he lived and worked at the 177 Achterburgwal.
See Enrico Morpurgo, Nederlandse Klokken - en Horlogemakers Vanaf 1300, Amsterdam, 1970.
Epicurus (341–270 BC)
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.
His teaching was based on the three disciplines of classical philosophy: physics, the Canon or "criterion", and ethics.

Sold

estimated
50.00060.000 €
Price realized
49.600 €