98th Auction
2018/11/10
Lot 266
Master's Mark "MK", Augsburg, Height 265 mm, circa 1625
An important, early figure clock with automaton and hour strike "The Blackamoor" - a rare example of a type of clock that was later called "cercles tournants"
Case: brass and copper, firegilt, engraved, chased and chiselled, rear bell. Dial: firegilt brass orb with hour ring with engraved Roman hours "I-XII", Arabic hours "13-24" and ecliptic (silvered ring with 12 signs of the Zodiac). Movm.: hexagonal brass full plate movement, firegilt, 2 barrels for going and striking train, 1 hammer, verge escapement, locking plate, wheel balance.
The hexagonal, canted stand sits on a hexagonal base with chased snapdragon and pomegranate motifs. Six baluster-like three-quarter columns separate the sides showing the chased representations of the muses Calliope, Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Terpsichore, and the goddess of justice, Iustitia. The sixth panel consists of a plate of later addition, show a heraldic engraving with coat of arms and the designation "WENC. WRATIS ANNO 1555" (Wenzel Wratislaw, in the year 1555). On the base sits an elaborately chased and engraved plate that carries the gilded figure of the blackamoor, partly decorated with polychrome painting. The man is dressed in the costume of a Roman general and wears a crown; a tiny monkey sits at his feet. He uses his sceptre to indicate the time on the celestial globe which sits on top of a coloured tree trunk. When the bell strikes at the full hour, the blackamoor turns his head to the globe and the monkey moves back and forth at his feet.
This early automaton clock is a finely executed example of a figure clock with a mundane subject typical of the 16th century, in a beautifully engraved and chased firegilt case, made by a renowned master in Augsburg.
The initials "MK" together with the pine cone of Augsburg (Pyr) on the movement plate unfortunately cannot be explained. So far the initials "MK" were attributed to a number of Renaissance masters such as Michael Klenck, Matthas Kessborer or Melchior Kleinhemmel. There is, however, no definite identification possible, but all the objects in question share the same superior quality standard when it comes to their artistic and technical finishing.
The coat of arms with the bifid shield and buffalo horns on the helmet as well as the engraved name "Wenc(el) Wratis(law) Anno 1555" refer to an ancient noble house in Bohemia, the Wratislaw von Mitrowitz family. The Christian name "Wratislaw" was taken as family name in the late 15th century; Wenzel Wratislaw von Mitrowitz († 1554) is the ancestor of the two houses Wratislaw von Mitrowitz and Wratislaw von Mitrowitz and Schönfeld.
Provenance:
- Swiss private collection
- Sold in at an auction at Ineichen, Zurich, May 1999
- Distinguished private collection in Vienna
An important, early figure clock with automaton and hour strike "The Blackamoor" - a rare example of a type of clock that was later called "cercles tournants"
Case: brass and copper, firegilt, engraved, chased and chiselled, rear bell. Dial: firegilt brass orb with hour ring with engraved Roman hours "I-XII", Arabic hours "13-24" and ecliptic (silvered ring with 12 signs of the Zodiac). Movm.: hexagonal brass full plate movement, firegilt, 2 barrels for going and striking train, 1 hammer, verge escapement, locking plate, wheel balance.
The hexagonal, canted stand sits on a hexagonal base with chased snapdragon and pomegranate motifs. Six baluster-like three-quarter columns separate the sides showing the chased representations of the muses Calliope, Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Terpsichore, and the goddess of justice, Iustitia. The sixth panel consists of a plate of later addition, show a heraldic engraving with coat of arms and the designation "WENC. WRATIS ANNO 1555" (Wenzel Wratislaw, in the year 1555). On the base sits an elaborately chased and engraved plate that carries the gilded figure of the blackamoor, partly decorated with polychrome painting. The man is dressed in the costume of a Roman general and wears a crown; a tiny monkey sits at his feet. He uses his sceptre to indicate the time on the celestial globe which sits on top of a coloured tree trunk. When the bell strikes at the full hour, the blackamoor turns his head to the globe and the monkey moves back and forth at his feet.
This early automaton clock is a finely executed example of a figure clock with a mundane subject typical of the 16th century, in a beautifully engraved and chased firegilt case, made by a renowned master in Augsburg.
The initials "MK" together with the pine cone of Augsburg (Pyr) on the movement plate unfortunately cannot be explained. So far the initials "MK" were attributed to a number of Renaissance masters such as Michael Klenck, Matthas Kessborer or Melchior Kleinhemmel. There is, however, no definite identification possible, but all the objects in question share the same superior quality standard when it comes to their artistic and technical finishing.
The coat of arms with the bifid shield and buffalo horns on the helmet as well as the engraved name "Wenc(el) Wratis(law) Anno 1555" refer to an ancient noble house in Bohemia, the Wratislaw von Mitrowitz family. The Christian name "Wratislaw" was taken as family name in the late 15th century; Wenzel Wratislaw von Mitrowitz († 1554) is the ancestor of the two houses Wratislaw von Mitrowitz and Wratislaw von Mitrowitz and Schönfeld.
Provenance:
- Swiss private collection
- Sold in at an auction at Ineichen, Zurich, May 1999
- Distinguished private collection in Vienna
Sold
estimated
27.000—50.000 €
Price realized
31.000 €