PROBABLY FRENCH, LATE 16TH EARLY 17TH CENTURY

This small timepiece table clock is a rare survival from the Renaissance era. With a cylindrical case, pierced domed top and strapwork engraving, the form and decoration of the timepiece illustrates a French interpretation of the German horizontal table clock. The few similar examples signed by London and German clockmakers probably represent imports and most of the surviving comparable clocks and timepieces are signed by French makers. See Tardy, French Clocks-The World Over, Vol. I, Paris, 1981, pp. 79-83; Patrizzi & Co., Milan, Pre-Pendulum European Renaissance Clocks, 24 May 2009, lot 20 (46,000 EUR); Christie's London, 5 July 2002, lot 20 (£7,409).