Lot 171 | Presumably Switzerland | EARLY IRON CLOCK

EARLY IRON CLOCK.

Presumably Switzerland.
Date: 17th c.
Maker/Designer: In the style of the Swiss watchmaking family Liechti.
Technique: Iron, partially polychromously painted.
Description: High rectangular, open frame. The top bell with an internal and an external hammer is
suspended in a belfry with floral tendrils. The front plate is painted in polychrome with tendrils on a red background, a cherub's head at the top and a chessboard-like tiled base at the bottom edge. The painted ring dial with Roman numerals and an hour marker with a pointing hand at one end and a crescent moon at the other. In the centre is the alarm disc with holes for a pin and Arabic numerals. Movement and striking mechanism with verge escapement and balance (foliot), hour striking mechanism with internally toothed locking disc and large, external wind wheel.
Measurement: 48x19x25cm.
Movement not complete, therefore not functional. The head of the external hammer has been lost.

Provenance:
Private collection Lower Rhine.

Literature:
Leiter, Alfred & Helfrich-Dörner, Alma: Die Uhr - Zeitmesser und Schmuck in fünf Jahrhunderten, Kornwestheim 1967. Here another clock with a comparable movement p.22f.