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Lot Essay
This monumental longcase clock is made in the tradition of Berlin and Potsdam longcases, most of which remain in the Royal palaces of Potsdam. The importance of the cases is underscored by some of the known makers such as Johann Friedrich Spindler, Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt and Johann Melchior Kambly. The Spindler brothers and the Hoppenhaupt brothers were involved in the complete furnishing of the palaces of Frederik II of Prussia (1740-1786), Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt becoming the Directeur des ornaments for Frederik II in 1746. These clocks were made to fit into a decorative scheme and some were even made en-suite to cabinets in the same room, as can be seen with the magnificent gilt-bronze mounted clock and corner cupboard made for Sancouci by Spindler and Kambly, and a tortoiseshell-veneered clock en suite to a mirror panelled corner cupboard by Kambly also in Sancouci. The present clock is comparable in the general shape of its case to a clock by I.C. Krüger illustrated in Klaus Maurice, Die Deutsche Räderuhr, München 1976, vol. II, pp. 105, plate 892.
Although the Krüger clock has rococo ornament it also has a bold circular hood with laurel-leaf bezel, at the back of the hood both clocks have a pierced rectangular superstructure adorned with a carved finial, and both clocks have a tapering body.
The musical movement, dial and numerals of the present clock are virtually identical to that of a clock attributed to Carl Ludwig Bauer (1755-1808) illustrated in E. Colsman, Möbel Gotik bis Jugendstil, collection of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, pp. 344-345. The case of the Cologne clock is also white-painted with applied carved giltwood neo-classical ornament, comparable to the panelling of the Königskammern of the Stadtschloss in Berlin, which was designed by Bauer for King Friedrich Wilhelm II.
Berlin and Potsdam organ clocks were already celebrated in their day for their quality of design, art and sound. As Friedrich Nicolai, author of Beschreibung der Königlichen Residenzstädte Berlin und Potsdam (Berlin, 1786, II p. 573 ff.), wrote in 1779: Spieluhren werden in Berlin in so grosser Vollkommenheit als sonst nirgends in Deutschland gemacht mentioning, (that) Carl Ludwig Bauer die vortrefflichsten Kunstwerke dieser Art geliefert hat.
A technical analysis of the clock by Klaus Maurice is available in German and English on request. We thank Klaus Maurice for his help in preparing this note.
Although the Krüger clock has rococo ornament it also has a bold circular hood with laurel-leaf bezel, at the back of the hood both clocks have a pierced rectangular superstructure adorned with a carved finial, and both clocks have a tapering body.
The musical movement, dial and numerals of the present clock are virtually identical to that of a clock attributed to Carl Ludwig Bauer (1755-1808) illustrated in E. Colsman, Möbel Gotik bis Jugendstil, collection of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, pp. 344-345. The case of the Cologne clock is also white-painted with applied carved giltwood neo-classical ornament, comparable to the panelling of the Königskammern of the Stadtschloss in Berlin, which was designed by Bauer for King Friedrich Wilhelm II.
Berlin and Potsdam organ clocks were already celebrated in their day for their quality of design, art and sound. As Friedrich Nicolai, author of Beschreibung der Königlichen Residenzstädte Berlin und Potsdam (Berlin, 1786, II p. 573 ff.), wrote in 1779: Spieluhren werden in Berlin in so grosser Vollkommenheit als sonst nirgends in Deutschland gemacht mentioning, (that) Carl Ludwig Bauer die vortrefflichsten Kunstwerke dieser Art geliefert hat.
A technical analysis of the clock by Klaus Maurice is available in German and English on request. We thank Klaus Maurice for his help in preparing this note.