A CHARLES X ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMBOYNA MUSICAL ORRERY CLOCK

RAINGO FRERES, RETAILED BY H.A. DAVIS, CIRCA 1825

Details

A CHARLES X ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMBOYNA MUSICAL ORRERY CLOCK
Raingo Freres, retailed by H.A. Davis, circa 1825
The case in the form of a Doric rotunda, the circular plinth with a foliate-cast ormolu band supporting four tapered columns with flower-wreathed torus mouldings, corresponding decoration to the bezel of the silvered Roman dial signed by the retailers H.A. Davis, blued moon hands, concentric calendar ring with corresponding planetary sign indicated by a double-ended arrow-head hand, the movement with twin going barrels, deadbeat escapement with gridiron pendulum suspended directly behind the dial, countwheel strike on bell, the cornice above surmounted by a band of ormolu zodiac bas-relief tablets encircling the mechanical tellurium with indirect drive fron the clock movement or with optional manual drive via an ivory-handle crank key, the tellurium rotating anti-clockwise and demonstrating the motions of the earth and moon in relation to the sun with horizontal bisextile dial with independant four-year-going barrel wound through the dial, the tellurium fullfilling the following functions;
1. Days of the month and month of the year
2. Position of the sun in the eliptic
3. The Bisextile (leap-year) cycle
4. The age and phase of the moon
5. The sidereal period of the moon
6. The approximate declination of the sun
7. The approximate lines of sunrise and sunset in the Northern Hemisphere
8. Solar time
The entire orrery under a glass dome resting on a square base mounted with palmette wreaths and housing the pin-barrel musical movement signed Raingo Freres, the pull knobs to the side for music selection (two tunes), manual stop/start and continuous play, the recangular plinth base with flanking pilasters with simple ormolu capitals and centered by an ormolu star key escutcheon for the door release, sliding key drawer above, on a later purpose-made detatchable base

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Tardy, La Pendule Française, 1981, 5th. ed., pp. 224, & 338-41
Cedric Jagger, Royal Clocks, the British Monarchy and its timekeepers, 1300-1900, pp. 168-70, figs. 229-31

Lot Essay

Raingo was of French extraction and fled (probably for political reasons) to Gand, Belgium circa 1800 and almost certainly remained there for the rest of his life. He is also recorded as being clockmaker to the Duc de Chatres in 1823. The company became Raingo Freres circa 1825 and operated from various Paris addresses. Precious little information has come to light on the clockmaker himself (his christian name is reputed to be Zachariah) but judging by the number of examples with retailers' names on the dials and his unfashionable location he relied heavily on others for retail.
The word orrery is defined by H. Alan Lloyd op. cit. as a mechanical device for portraying the relative motions of the sun, moon and earth with sometimes the addition of the planets; operated either by hand or clockwork. The first known English example was made by George Graham circa 1710 and had the joint signatures of Thomas Tompion and George Graham. History has it that John Rowley subsequently copied Graham's orrery (four examples of his orrerys exist in the Old Ashmoleum Museum). One of Rowley's instruments (they were not then called orreries) was bought by the Earl of Orrery and it is purported that the famous essayist Sir Richard Steele then suggested that the instrument should thereafter be called an orrery - in the Earl's honour!
Most of Raingo's 20-30 surviving orreries just have the basic tellurium on a circular base, the two best known examples of this type are in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle and at the Soane Museum, London. The present example with its musical movement and plinth base represents the rarest of all the types known to exist.