Fine Watches
Fine Watches
A quarter repeating table clock, The Hague, C 1680
No reserve
Lot Closed
December 14, 06:18 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A quarter repeating table clock, the movement, The Hague, Circa 1680, now mounted in an ebony veneered case with silver mounts and dial
Dial: rectangular silver dial plate with bottom-set chapter ring with back enamel inner Roman numerals and outer Arabic numerals, the minutes in cartouches, the center engraved with symmetrical formal leaf-scroll decoration below a bust of a Goddess, potentially Natura, beneath an awning flanked by two urns with two doves of peace flying above; the upper portion of the dial plate with two cherubs winding horns seated on suspended draperies below a central trophy surmounted by a bear's head, below the dial, relief figures of a stag and hounds; the entire dial thus emblematic of the hunt, winding aperture at 6 o'clock
Caliber: substantial movement with ring turned pillars, tandem drive from a single spring barrel, verge escapement with cycloidal cheeks, silk suspension, pierced brass striking gates, vertical hammer, pull repeating on two bells, flower pierced numbered count wheel and with similar mounts flanking the cock
Case: 4 3/4-inch silver champlevé dial, later ripple molded architectural oak case, applied engraved pierced repousse mounts to the dial frame emblematic of the four seasons, Spring and Autumn above, flanking a portico with central figure of a night watchman, the portico surmounted by a figure of Chronos holding a snake biting its own tail (symbol of eternity)
Size: height 27 in. (68.6 cm)
Signed: backplate signed Johannes Van Ceulen Fecit Hagae
Box: no
Papers: no
Masterpieces from The Time Museum Including Watches, Clocks and Scientific Instruments, Time Museum Inventory No. 726, Sotheby's New York, December 2, 1999 Lot 51
The silver-mounted case can be attributed to Augsburg, early 18th century.
Johannes Van Ceulen (before 1656-1715) was one of the most prolific makers of Hague clocks, and was known to have been a founding members of The Hague's Clockmaker's Guild which was established in January of 1688.
In 1677, he purchased a house on the Plein, located opposite the house of Christian Huygens to construct a planetarium in 1681. This planetarium is now located in the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden. Ceulen later made two additional experimental clocks for Huygens to determine longitude at sea.
Several clocks by Johannes Van Ceulen with similar movements are illustrated in Dr. R. Plomp, Spring-driven Dutch Pendulum clocks, Interbook International B.V. Schiedam, 1979.