Lot 525

English, Movement No. 2596, 155 mm, circa 1870
A high quality Victorian hour repeating table clock in the style of Thomas Cole with half hour / hour self strike
Case: brass, gilt, very finely chased and florally engraved. Dial: brass. Movm.: brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, screw compensation balance.
The marvellously decorated dial catches the viewer's eye with its incredibly skillful hand engraving; the scene "a trois couleur" showing a group of Berber princes on horseback near a desert oasis with palm trees and a mosque has a three-dimensional effect, which is accomplished by stacking four open work metal plates on top of each other. In the centre is Flora, the goddess of flowers amidst different flowers and lavish leaves and scrolling tendrils. The back shows a pair of exotic birds in their nest with palm trees in the background; the sides are decorated with lush foliage.