57,500 CHF
M*B (with a crown), punchmark for Mathieu Bachelet, Paris, circa 1580 Important gilt-metal striking table clock with alarm. Circular, giIt brass the band engraved with four oval vignettes with landscape scenes representing the Four Seasons linked by an interlaced band to four further upright panels depicting the Four Elements, the borders with mythological figure and beasts each supporting a cornucopia, hinged inspection door inset into the side. Pierced shallow domed top, engraved with a variety of grotesque masks and rosettes. Push-fit base plate engraved with a complex pattern of fruit foliage, mythological birds and animais with interlaced circular vignettes and surrounding a blank cartouche. Engraved Roman hour chapter-ring attached to the case dome, with replaced concentric Arabic chaptered alarm disk. Single blued-steel arrow pattern hand. Notes French clocks of the Tate 16th. century are infinitely rarer than their German counterparts, and often of higher quality. This particular example is of large size and well engraved with all the expected features of interest in the movement. Several clocks of similar design are included in Tardy, La Pendule Française, Paris, 1981, part I, pp. 79-83.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1992-10-17
