Casper Rauber

Casper Rauber, Augsburg, circa 1570. Fine and rare gilt metal, hour striking, single-hand three-train pendant clockwatch with stackfreed, foliot and hog’s bristle regulator. Double-body, tambour-like, cushion band and slightly domed covers, the front lid pierced with 12 oval openings for the hours, the center cut-out, the band and the back decorated with arabesques and foliage, short pendant and loose ring. Gilt metal, hinged to the case, outer chapter with radial Roman numerals, inner with 24-hour ring with 13 to 24 hour Arabic numerals in the German style. Blued-steel hand. 44 mm, gilt brass full plate with four pillars, Notes The first departure from the earliest drum-shaped watches consisted in rounding the edges and making the covers domed. The present lot is an excellent example of that trend. Very few watches or clocks by Casper Rauber have survived. Abeler lists only one which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Judging by these two, he was an excellent watchmaker.