Lot 37
37
A French gilt-metal hexagonal striking table clock with alarm
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A French gilt-metal hexagonal striking table clock with alarm

L'ECOLE D'HORLOGERIE D'AIX-EN-PROVENCE. CIRCA 1550

Details
A French gilt-metal hexagonal striking table clock with alarm
L'Ecole d'Horlogerie d'Aix-en-Provence. Circa 1550
The dial with gilt concave Roman chapter ring with star half-hour markers and blued steel tulip pointer, central silver alarm disc calibrated I to XII with foliate engraved centre and blued steel hand, the gilt dial plate engraved with branches of leaves with flowerheads, the gilt-brass two-tier movement with conjoined hexagonal section pillars, the upper tier with long gilt spring barrel and narrow gut fusee, contrate arbor of hexagonal-section, verge escapement with restored steel foliot balance with gilt pinned balance cock, the alarm train housed within the upper tier with long octagonal-section steel arbor carrying the re-gilt spring barrel with toothed crown, the strike train housed in the lower tier with gilt spring barrel with pinned end cap, the crown and fly wheel of unusual construction, the strike hammer carried on a long steel hexagonal arbor striking on a bell above the plates held within six faceted gilt straps, the case surmounted by an urn finial raised on six moulded gilt straps, foliate cast pierced dome centred by winged cherubs, the gallery below cast with cornucopiae, the main body with slender gilt columns with tulip and ringed decoration, the detachable base with three winding square holes engraved M, S & R with the maker's stamp Aix*A*P beneath a crown
6½ in. (17 cm.) high
Literature
Tardy, French Clocks, the world over, Paris, 1981, Part 1, p.52
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present clock is one of the best early French hexagonal table clocks to appear at auction in recent years. Its slender case has the original gilding and the beautifully cast dome and slender tulip-embellished angle columns combine well to create a timepiece with elegant proportions.

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