PHILIPP MILLER (THE OLDER OR YOUNGER), CIRCA 1580/90

Details

A GERMAN ENGRAVED GILT-BRASS AND COPPER STRIKING AND AUTOMATON LION CLOCK
PHILIPP MILLER (THE OLDER OR YOUNGER), CIRCA 1580/90
The lion shown rampant with staff to right forepaw and bearing a shield to the left, with hours shown to the twice 12 hour rings with touch pieces, the arms of Abbott Gangenrieder below and makers monogram 'F M' in a heart-shaped shield, the chased and repoussé ground with subsidiary alarm disc, with touch pieces, and regulation disc, with Apostle figures of St. Peter and St. Paul (?) each concealing a winding square, the eyes, jaw, tongue and foreleg move at the hour; the steel movement plates joined by plain pillars with brass barrels and fusees, balance with spring and verge escapement, the bottom plate with countwheel and strike to bell
13 3/8 in. (34 cm.) high, 10 in. (25.5 cm.) wide, 12 in. (30.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Abbott Gangenrieder, Thierhaupten Monastery, Augsburg.

Literature

C. Vincent, Northern European Clocks in New York Collections, New York, 1972, p. 18.
K. Maurice, Die deutsche Räderuhr, Band II, Munich, 1976, p. 49, fig. 301.
K. Maurice and O. Mayr, The Clockwork Universe, German Clocks and Automata 1550-1650, Munich, 1980, pp. 260-1.

Exhibited

Northern European Clocks in New York Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 4 January – 28 March 1972, inv. no. 25, inventory label 'L. 1971.93.16'.
The Clockwork Universe, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich and National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, 1980/81, No. 90.

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Lot Essay

Philipp Miller, the elder, (b. circa 1538 - d. after 1590), active from about 1550.
Philipp Miller, the younger, (b. circa 1550-51 - d. before 1619), active from 1587.
Claire Vincent (op cit) notes that the naturalistic designs combined with the 'latest' strapwork ornament resemble closely the engravings of Theodore de Bry (1528-98).

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