Important Collectors Watches, Pocket ...
Geneva, Mar 29, 2009
LOT 294
Louis XVI Musical Clock Paris. Made circa 1786, probably to commemorate the death of Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712-1786). Very fine and extremely rare, Louis XVI rouge griotte marble, verre eglomise and gilt bronze hour and half-hour striking, twelve tune musical clock playing on eleven bells with 19 hammers on the hour or on demand, with automatic tune changing.
CHF 40,000 - 60,000
USD 34,000 - 50,000 / EUR 27,000 - 40,000
Sold: CHF 38,400
C. Clock with white and rouge griotte marble body, flanked by a gilt bronze figure representing music and playing a lyre, a winged gilt bronze putto opposite with a basket of flowers, marble base with a gilt bronze plaque in the center depicting putti playing musical insruments, gilt bronze leaf and bead mounts and bun feet. Rectangular rouge griotte marble base with curved sides housing the musical movement with six fluted white marble columns with gilt bronze bases and capitals, surmounted by a gilt bronze balustrade, gilt bronze cagework, the center panel set with a fine verre eglomise oval plaque depicting Frederick the Great on horseback, the base with gilt bronze panels, hinged back door, bun feet. D. White enamel, convex, Arabic numerals, outer minute dot divisions, winding apertures in the center, regulation arbour above 12. Gilt brass pierced and engraved hands. M. 10.5 cm., circular, brass, going barrels on both trains, anchor escapement, brass bob pendulum with silk suspension, count wheel on the back plate, striking on the hours and half-hours on a bell. Musical movement: 32 x 9 x 11.5 cm., rectangular, gilt brass, massive barrel with fusee and chain, brass pinned cylinder 230 mm long, fly governor with adjustable wings, eleven bells below the cylinder played with 19 hammers, start/stop lever, stop at will lever and tune selection lever protruding through the grille. Dial signed ?a Paris?. Dim: Height 65 cm, width 46 cm, depth 21 cm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3-27 |
Good Custom-made |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
King of Prussia (1740?1786) from the Hohenzollern dynasty. He became known as Frederick the Great. When he was young, Frederick rebelled unsuccessfully against his authoritarian father, Frederick William I, attempting to flee to Great Britain with his friend Hans Herman von Katte. Both men were captured and Frederick Wiliam I forced his son to watch the execution of von Katte.
Upon ascending to the Prussian throne, Frederick attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the Silesian Wars, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. Toward the end of his life, Frederick was able to unite most of his realm by means of the First Partition of Poland. He brought prosperity to his realm, favoring the Enlightenment, while fighting wars with Austria, Russia, and France. Through lands taken during the War of the Austrian Succession, he doubled the population of Prussia to six million people, making Prussia not only the largest of the German states, and a formidable European power.
Unlike his military-minded, Spartan father, Frederick was a great lover of the arts and philosophy. An enlightened, though absolutist, monarch Frederick corresponded for many years with Voltaire, with whom his friendship was warm, if occasionally turbulent. He modernized Prussian civil service and bureaucracy, advocating religious tolerance throughout his kingdom.
Frederick is buried in Potsdam, at his favorite residence, Sanssouci. Having died childless, Frederick was succeeded by his nephew, the son of his brother, Prince Augustus William of Prussia, Frederick William II of Prussia.