Old Clocks
1600-1610 Augsburg Elephant
2021 SOLD for $ 2.6M by Christie's
The robotics was an early dream of mankind for use as a time keeper or water raiser. Major developments were made in Muslim Mesopotamia ca 1200 CE by al-Jazari, who invented the camshaft and the crankshaft for transforming a rotary motion into a linear motion. Al-Jazari had already a view about entertainment and his water driven elephant clock is one of his most complicated achievements. He also invented the musical automaton.
Four centuries later the Augsburg craftsmen were skilled to develop new machines enabling some playful entertainment on the banquet table beside the high variety of silver salts.
The model of the mechanical Augsburg elephant is directly inspired in its form and motion from al-Jazari's automaton. No less than ten Augsburg elephant clocks are known to survive. The beast is standing on a pedestal in which a mechanism enables a tight circular travel on the table. The clock is posed on its back like a minaret saddle, exactly like on al-Jazari's master model.
An elephant clock made in Augsburg ca 1600-1610 has just been restituted to a branch of the Rothschild after a Nazi spoliation in 1938. It was sold for $ 2.6M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Christie's on October 13, 2021, lot 7. It is stated in the catalogue as "partially non-functioning but largely intact".
This piece 36 cm high including the 9 cm wood pedestal is made of silvered bronze, enameled silver and gilt bronze. The clock has an enameled dial on two opposite sides of the minaret plus glass windows revealing the gears from the other two sides.
In addition to the travel of the pedestal, the automata consist of a circular movement of the upper platform of the minaret holding four warriors, plus a back and forward movement of the eyes of the elephant. Two non-automated figures of armed putti carved in the round are driving the elephant, one riding it and the other beside it.
Four centuries later the Augsburg craftsmen were skilled to develop new machines enabling some playful entertainment on the banquet table beside the high variety of silver salts.
The model of the mechanical Augsburg elephant is directly inspired in its form and motion from al-Jazari's automaton. No less than ten Augsburg elephant clocks are known to survive. The beast is standing on a pedestal in which a mechanism enables a tight circular travel on the table. The clock is posed on its back like a minaret saddle, exactly like on al-Jazari's master model.
An elephant clock made in Augsburg ca 1600-1610 has just been restituted to a branch of the Rothschild after a Nazi spoliation in 1938. It was sold for $ 2.6M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Christie's on October 13, 2021, lot 7. It is stated in the catalogue as "partially non-functioning but largely intact".
This piece 36 cm high including the 9 cm wood pedestal is made of silvered bronze, enameled silver and gilt bronze. The clock has an enameled dial on two opposite sides of the minaret plus glass windows revealing the gears from the other two sides.
In addition to the travel of the pedestal, the automata consist of a circular movement of the upper platform of the minaret holding four warriors, plus a back and forward movement of the eyes of the elephant. Two non-automated figures of armed putti carved in the round are driving the elephant, one riding it and the other beside it.
1677 Knibb Table Clock
2012 SOLD for £ 1.27M by Sotheby's
The use of oscillating pendulums in instruments for measuring time was invented by Christiaan Huygens in the late 1650s. The English will be the pioneers in the manufacture of these pendulum clocks.
Not only it was one of the most useful of all inventions but also, by raising the skills of the mechanical craftsmen, it was certainly a key to the start of the industrial revolution.
Joseph Knibb, who worked in London since 1670, was one of those masters of the time. Skilled clockmaker, he was a precursor and perhaps one of the inventors of the anchor escapement, a basic accessory designed to ensure the isochrony of the pendulum as a function of the deflection angle.
Back to the beginnings of his career. The horological collection of the watchmaker George Daniels, auctioned on November 6, 2012 by Sotheby's, included a clock made by Joseph Knibb, sold for £ 1.27M from a lower estimate of £ 600K, lot 130.
Dated 1677, it has the shape already usual in his time of the table clock, a cube with a handle. This luxurious piece is in ebony, with Roman numerals on the dial.
Not only it was one of the most useful of all inventions but also, by raising the skills of the mechanical craftsmen, it was certainly a key to the start of the industrial revolution.
Joseph Knibb, who worked in London since 1670, was one of those masters of the time. Skilled clockmaker, he was a precursor and perhaps one of the inventors of the anchor escapement, a basic accessory designed to ensure the isochrony of the pendulum as a function of the deflection angle.
Back to the beginnings of his career. The horological collection of the watchmaker George Daniels, auctioned on November 6, 2012 by Sotheby's, included a clock made by Joseph Knibb, sold for £ 1.27M from a lower estimate of £ 600K, lot 130.
Dated 1677, it has the shape already usual in his time of the table clock, a cube with a handle. This luxurious piece is in ebony, with Roman numerals on the dial.
1693 Tompion Q Clock
2019 SOLD for £ 1.93M by Bonhams
Established in London since 1671, Thomas Tompion became the best English manufacturer of clocks and watches by the accuracy of his mechanisms, the choice of the best materials and the employment of the best workers. He belongs to the second generation of pendulum clock manufacturers. Sponsored by Robert Hooke, he certainly benefited from the experience of the pioneering Oxford clockmakers.
Aware of the quality of his production, Tompion numbered his instruments, an exceptional practice in his time for a manufactured product. He mixes in a single serialization list the table clocks and the long case clocks. His clocks have a long autonomy. His grande sonnerie pieces offer a repetition of quarters over a long duration.
From 1692 or 1693 Tompion improves the elegance of his design with his Phase Two which includes the cushion dome, the thistle bud handle, the bellflower keyhole and the operation of the mechanism from the front face.
The master seems more interested in standardization than in miniaturization. Nevertheless Number 215 appears as the first of a small series of Phase Two table clocks with a total height of 28 cm including the raised handle. It was sold for £ 170K by Bonhams on December 13, 2011.
Number 222, made especially for Queen Mary II in 1693 and known as the Q Clock, is the smallest clock ever made by Tompion with an ebony case. It is 20 cm high overall with the handle raised. It offers the quarter repetition and an autonomy of eight days.
Re-assembled in 1949 by a collector with its original movement, this silver mounted royal clock was sold for £ 1.93M by Bonhams on June 19, 2019, lot 103. A modern replica was joined to the lot. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Aware of the quality of his production, Tompion numbered his instruments, an exceptional practice in his time for a manufactured product. He mixes in a single serialization list the table clocks and the long case clocks. His clocks have a long autonomy. His grande sonnerie pieces offer a repetition of quarters over a long duration.
From 1692 or 1693 Tompion improves the elegance of his design with his Phase Two which includes the cushion dome, the thistle bud handle, the bellflower keyhole and the operation of the mechanism from the front face.
The master seems more interested in standardization than in miniaturization. Nevertheless Number 215 appears as the first of a small series of Phase Two table clocks with a total height of 28 cm including the raised handle. It was sold for £ 170K by Bonhams on December 13, 2011.
Number 222, made especially for Queen Mary II in 1693 and known as the Q Clock, is the smallest clock ever made by Tompion with an ebony case. It is 20 cm high overall with the handle raised. It offers the quarter repetition and an autonomy of eight days.
Re-assembled in 1949 by a collector with its original movement, this silver mounted royal clock was sold for £ 1.93M by Bonhams on June 19, 2019, lot 103. A modern replica was joined to the lot. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
We are delighted to announce that one of the most valuable clocks ever to appear at auction, The King William & Queen Mary Royal Tompion, will star in The Clive Collection of Exceptional Clocks in London on 19 June.https://t.co/6ufWtyi4Ax pic.twitter.com/ROoThd69zu
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) May 20, 2019
Astronomical Regulator
1
1708 Tompion 483
2003 SOLD for £ 620K by Christie's
King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1675. Its objective was to calculate the longitude through the position of the stars to ensure the control of the seas. The first Royal Astronomer, John Flamsteed, established a catalog of stars of unprecedented precision.
The length of the sidereal day is four minutes less than the length of the solar day. In 1691 Thomas Tompion executed a sidereal clock designed by Flamsteed for Greenwich.
On July 11, 2003, Christie's sold a longcase regulator at lot 156 for £ 620K from a lower estimate of £ 150K. This instrument one-of-a-kind in its time displays both solar and sidereal time on a dial with two concentric rings, with a one month reserve. The combination of the two mechanisms is a technical feat, including a wheel with 586 teeth for sidereal time and a wheel with 244 teeth for solar time.
Numbered 483 by Tompion, this regulator was made in his later career. The terminus ante quem is the end of his association with Edward Banger, around 1708 : a plaque bears these two names.
The length of the sidereal day is four minutes less than the length of the solar day. In 1691 Thomas Tompion executed a sidereal clock designed by Flamsteed for Greenwich.
On July 11, 2003, Christie's sold a longcase regulator at lot 156 for £ 620K from a lower estimate of £ 150K. This instrument one-of-a-kind in its time displays both solar and sidereal time on a dial with two concentric rings, with a one month reserve. The combination of the two mechanisms is a technical feat, including a wheel with 586 teeth for sidereal time and a wheel with 244 teeth for solar time.
Numbered 483 by Tompion, this regulator was made in his later career. The terminus ante quem is the end of his association with Edward Banger, around 1708 : a plaque bears these two names.
2
1725 Graham 634
2002 SOLD for $ 1.77M by Sotheby's
George Graham had worked for Tompion since 1688. About three years after Tompion separated from Banger, Graham went in partnership with Tompion. He succeeded him at his death in 1713.
The escapements fitted to Tompion 483 are of anchor type with deadbeat, a mechanism tested in 1676 by Tompion from an invention by Towneley, and which will later be known as Graham escapement. Graham is not identified on the plaques of that clock.
Made circa 1725, the regulator numbered 634 by George Graham offers the very rare and perhaps unique combination of the functions of the 483 with a perpetual calendar. The sidereal and solar time dials are separate. 634 was sold by Sotheby's on June 19, 2002 for $ 1.77M from a lower estimate of $ 150K, lot 172.
The escapements fitted to Tompion 483 are of anchor type with deadbeat, a mechanism tested in 1676 by Tompion from an invention by Towneley, and which will later be known as Graham escapement. Graham is not identified on the plaques of that clock.
Made circa 1725, the regulator numbered 634 by George Graham offers the very rare and perhaps unique combination of the functions of the 483 with a perpetual calendar. The sidereal and solar time dials are separate. 634 was sold by Sotheby's on June 19, 2002 for $ 1.77M from a lower estimate of $ 150K, lot 172.
1715 Boulle Clock
2011 SOLD for $ 1.26M by Sotheby's
In 1715 André-Charles Boulle aged 73 issued an acte de délaissement leaving his property to his four sons. This document describes four unfinished clocks waiting for the bronze casting on the theme of Vénus and Cupid.
A 82 cm high ormolu mounted clock in that model is made of tortoiseshell inlaid ebony with the figures in patinated bronze. The partially draped seated goddess holds a large ormolu floral garland that elegantly covers the clock. Her feet are resting on an ormolu conch shell. The dial is signed by Thuret whose workshop was close to Boulle's Galeries du Louvre workshop.
It was sold for $ 1.26M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on October 18, 2011,
lot 712 in the sale of the Safra collection.
That Venus has similarities with an Andromeda by the sculptor Robert Le Lorrain.
A 82 cm high ormolu mounted clock in that model is made of tortoiseshell inlaid ebony with the figures in patinated bronze. The partially draped seated goddess holds a large ormolu floral garland that elegantly covers the clock. Her feet are resting on an ormolu conch shell. The dial is signed by Thuret whose workshop was close to Boulle's Galeries du Louvre workshop.
It was sold for $ 1.26M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on October 18, 2011,
lot 712 in the sale of the Safra collection.
That Venus has similarities with an Andromeda by the sculptor Robert Le Lorrain.
1727 Meissen Mantel Clock
2021 SOLD for $ 1.6M by Sotheby's
On September 14, 2021, Sotheby's sold a clock in Meissen porcelain for $ 1.6M from an estimate beyond $ 200K, lot 64.
This piece 44 cm high is made on a sculptural porcelain mantel fitted with a dial signed ca 1700 by a Parisian clockmaker and gilt bronze mounted in the mid 18th century. It is dated 1727 and inscribed Meissen in underglaze blue on the finial.
Its finial is a group of Minerva, the goddess of the arts, with her rival Arachne soon to be turned into a spider as narrated by Ovid. Chinoiseries in cartouches in front and side panels are a reference to the newly expected rivalry of Saxon against Chinese porcelains.
The pierced mantel body and the feet are decorated with scrolls and pilasters plus several figures including a kneeling supplicant in the round. The reverse is painted with blossoms emerging from a rock. The bright colors include turquoise, iron red, purple, green, gilt and black.
This set of exuberant figures had been designed in the lifetime of Johann Christian Kirchner, probably by his younger brother Johann Gottlieb, and modeled by Fritzsche. It was certainly produced for the Japanese Palace of Augustus the Strong in Dresden. 26 clock cases are known from that period.
This piece 44 cm high is made on a sculptural porcelain mantel fitted with a dial signed ca 1700 by a Parisian clockmaker and gilt bronze mounted in the mid 18th century. It is dated 1727 and inscribed Meissen in underglaze blue on the finial.
Its finial is a group of Minerva, the goddess of the arts, with her rival Arachne soon to be turned into a spider as narrated by Ovid. Chinoiseries in cartouches in front and side panels are a reference to the newly expected rivalry of Saxon against Chinese porcelains.
The pierced mantel body and the feet are decorated with scrolls and pilasters plus several figures including a kneeling supplicant in the round. The reverse is painted with blossoms emerging from a rock. The bright colors include turquoise, iron red, purple, green, gilt and black.
This set of exuberant figures had been designed in the lifetime of Johann Christian Kirchner, probably by his younger brother Johann Gottlieb, and modeled by Fritzsche. It was certainly produced for the Japanese Palace of Augustus the Strong in Dresden. 26 clock cases are known from that period.
#AuctionUpdate This 'Highly Important Documentary and Dated Meissen Mantel Clock Case' from 1727 brings $1.6 million. It is one of only five clocks of this model that appear to have survived by the early 20th century, two of which are in museum collections. #SothebysDecArts pic.twitter.com/6z2TSfZ0fU
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 14, 2021
Die Versteigerung der Sammlung Oppenheimer übertraf alle Erwartungen um ein Vielfaches. #porzellan #meissen #sammlung
— Barnebys.de (@Barnebysde) September 21, 2021
1740 Tall Case Clock by Stretch
2004 SOLD for $ 1.7M by Sotheby's
Peter Stretch is the nephew of a Staffordshire clockmaker. He knows the best London manufacturers including Thomas Tompion. Fleeing religious persecution, he joins the Quaker community in Philadelphia in 1703 with his family.
This skilful craftsman produced until his death in 1746 all kinds of timepieces, and even some scientific instruments. His works are not dated, but he follows and influences the changing tastes of the rich bourgeoisie of Philadelphia, of which he is a prominent member.
The grandfather clock on the Tompion model became the most spectacular element in bourgeois homes. This model also known as longcase clock is an easy approach to improve the accuracy thanks to the lengthening of the pendulum. Stretch first made them in solid walnut and then in mahogany, with a beautiful dark brown color that responded to the Queen Anne taste reinterpreted in Philadelphia around 1740.
A mahogany clock was sold by Sotheby's on October 29, 2004 for $ 1.7M from a lower estimate of $ 600K, lot 205.
273 cm high and very richly carved, it is typical of the later career of Peter Stretch, notably with a signature sarcophagus shaped top. It has remained close to its original configuration. The magnificence takes precedence over watchmaking sophistication. The dial is silvered with a date aperture. Its complications are the phases of the moon and the seconds hand.
This skilful craftsman produced until his death in 1746 all kinds of timepieces, and even some scientific instruments. His works are not dated, but he follows and influences the changing tastes of the rich bourgeoisie of Philadelphia, of which he is a prominent member.
The grandfather clock on the Tompion model became the most spectacular element in bourgeois homes. This model also known as longcase clock is an easy approach to improve the accuracy thanks to the lengthening of the pendulum. Stretch first made them in solid walnut and then in mahogany, with a beautiful dark brown color that responded to the Queen Anne taste reinterpreted in Philadelphia around 1740.
A mahogany clock was sold by Sotheby's on October 29, 2004 for $ 1.7M from a lower estimate of $ 600K, lot 205.
273 cm high and very richly carved, it is typical of the later career of Peter Stretch, notably with a signature sarcophagus shaped top. It has remained close to its original configuration. The magnificence takes precedence over watchmaking sophistication. The dial is silvered with a date aperture. Its complications are the phases of the moon and the seconds hand.
1766 Montigny Flat Desk with Cartonnier
2015 SOLD for € 2.22M by Christie's (unpaid)
Philippe-Claude Montigny is a cabinetmaker at the end of the reign of Louis XV. Cousin of René Dubois, he is also an occasional collaborator to Etienne Levasseur who is at that time the skilled successor of Boulle. The large bureau plat in the style of Boulle naturally becomes one of his specialties.
All accessories are designed for writing: drawers and pull in the desk, black leathered top and the very tall serre papier now named cartonnier or filing cabinet which is surmounted by a clock.
The desks stamped by Montigny are rare. One of them was sold for € 2.22M by Christie's on November 4, 2015, lot 510. Please watch the video shared in 2015 by the auction house. It passed at Christie's on October 13, 2021, lot 16, from a lower estimate of $ 600K. The auction house indicated in the catalogue that it was "in whole or in part" owned by them, which suggests that it was unpaid in 2015.
It retained its matching cartonnier with its original clock as they were described in the inventory of the estate of a former intendant of Louis XVI in 1795. Two period écritoires are joined to complete the equipment.
The desk is adorned with a leafy garland in antiquisant style 'à la grecque' which was fashionable in the early 1760s. It certainly dates from the very beginning of the accession to the maîtrise by Montigny in 1766. The sets of furniture of this period in which desk, cabinet and clock were never separated are of extreme rarity.
All accessories are designed for writing: drawers and pull in the desk, black leathered top and the very tall serre papier now named cartonnier or filing cabinet which is surmounted by a clock.
The desks stamped by Montigny are rare. One of them was sold for € 2.22M by Christie's on November 4, 2015, lot 510. Please watch the video shared in 2015 by the auction house. It passed at Christie's on October 13, 2021, lot 16, from a lower estimate of $ 600K. The auction house indicated in the catalogue that it was "in whole or in part" owned by them, which suggests that it was unpaid in 2015.
It retained its matching cartonnier with its original clock as they were described in the inventory of the estate of a former intendant of Louis XVI in 1795. Two period écritoires are joined to complete the equipment.
The desk is adorned with a leafy garland in antiquisant style 'à la grecque' which was fashionable in the early 1760s. It certainly dates from the very beginning of the accession to the maîtrise by Montigny in 1766. The sets of furniture of this period in which desk, cabinet and clock were never separated are of extreme rarity.
1774 Régulateur de Parquet by Berthoud
1999 SOLD for £ 1.93M by Christie's
The mastery of the seas requires the precise measurement of longitude. The English effort paid off : John Harrison invented the marine chronometer.
The marquis de Choiseul, raised to duc de Praslin in 1762, swapped in 1766 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Ministry of Marine, just as strategic. To cancel the French backwardness, he commissions the two most skilful watchmakers established in Paris, Pierre Le Roy and the Swiss born Ferdinand Berthoud. It is Praslin who conceives the first official French circumnavigation, whose captain is Bougainville.
In 1764 and 1765, Praslin acquires Fouquet's castle in Vaux and a residence in Paris, built on the banks of the Seine for Fouquet's grandson, which becomes the hôtel de Choiseul-Praslin. The luxury of its decoration, including some furniture by Boulle, is worthy of the minister disgraced by Louis XIV.
The régulateur de parquet (longcase clock) from the hôtel's grand salon is a work by Berthoud, with a case stamped by Lieutaud and gilded bronzes by Caffiéri's son. This is of course the best in Paris for that sort of piece. It includes the calendar, complications related to Sun and Moon, a needle barometer, as well as the équation de Berthoud revealed to the Académie des Sciences in 1752 to differentiate between apparent and mean solar times.
This sumptuous 2.66 m high piece of time and furnishing was sold for £ 1.93M by Christie's on July 8, 1999, lot 207. For the date, the only reference is a spring marked 1774.
The marquis de Choiseul, raised to duc de Praslin in 1762, swapped in 1766 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Ministry of Marine, just as strategic. To cancel the French backwardness, he commissions the two most skilful watchmakers established in Paris, Pierre Le Roy and the Swiss born Ferdinand Berthoud. It is Praslin who conceives the first official French circumnavigation, whose captain is Bougainville.
In 1764 and 1765, Praslin acquires Fouquet's castle in Vaux and a residence in Paris, built on the banks of the Seine for Fouquet's grandson, which becomes the hôtel de Choiseul-Praslin. The luxury of its decoration, including some furniture by Boulle, is worthy of the minister disgraced by Louis XIV.
The régulateur de parquet (longcase clock) from the hôtel's grand salon is a work by Berthoud, with a case stamped by Lieutaud and gilded bronzes by Caffiéri's son. This is of course the best in Paris for that sort of piece. It includes the calendar, complications related to Sun and Moon, a needle barometer, as well as the équation de Berthoud revealed to the Académie des Sciences in 1752 to differentiate between apparent and mean solar times.
This sumptuous 2.66 m high piece of time and furnishing was sold for £ 1.93M by Christie's on July 8, 1999, lot 207. For the date, the only reference is a spring marked 1774.
1775 Philadelphia Tall Case Clock
2004 SOLD for $ 800K by Sotheby's
A 286 cm high Chippendale tall case clock in mahogany retaining most of its original components was sold by Sotheby's for $ 800K on January 15-18, 2004, lot 666. and for $ 410K on January 20, 2024, lot 30. Its complications include strike silent and chime silent mechanisms, calendar date and seconds registers.
Its rococo style is typical of colonial Philadelphia around 1775. The exquisite ornamental carving of the case is attributed to the immigrant cabinetmakers Bernard and Jugiez in partnership in Philadelphia. The dial and the musical movement are inscribed by Paul Rimbault in London who was involved in export trade. It retains its original musical movement and is inscribed with a program of eight melodies including God save the King.
It was cleaned and signed by a clockmaker in 1876 and 1878, certainly in preparation and after the Centennial Exhibition and is possibly the clock exhibited therein in the Pennsylvania Education Hall.
Its rococo style is typical of colonial Philadelphia around 1775. The exquisite ornamental carving of the case is attributed to the immigrant cabinetmakers Bernard and Jugiez in partnership in Philadelphia. The dial and the musical movement are inscribed by Paul Rimbault in London who was involved in export trade. It retains its original musical movement and is inscribed with a program of eight melodies including God save the King.
It was cleaned and signed by a clockmaker in 1876 and 1878, certainly in preparation and after the Centennial Exhibition and is possibly the clock exhibited therein in the Pennsylvania Education Hall.
