235 - "DS" - Vienna Table Clock

"DS" - Vienna Table Clock A high-quality and rare, square-cased Viennese table clock with hour strike Dimensions 80 x 115 x 115 mm, circa 1632, Origin Österreich Case: Firegilt brass case, smooth sides, four bun feet, rear bell. Dial: Brass, firegilt, applied silver chapter ring with radial Roman hours, central engraved sunray ornament. Movm.: Square brass movement, screwed-on decorations, chain/fusee, 1 hammer, locking plate, hog's bristle, applied blued iron click work, verge escapement, two-arm iron rim foliot without balance spring, florally engraved, pierced balance cock. This beautifully crafted Viennese table clock presents itself in a case reduced to the bare essentials in terms of decoration. The only visible ornamentation are the winged cherub heads placed in the spandrels of the display-side dial. At the centre of the dial sits a disc engraved with a radiating sunburst motif. A long central, blued hand indicates the minutes, while a shorter brass hand shows the hours. The square movement bears the inscription "Wyen" underneath the balance, and is signed with the monogram "DS" inside a shield. Above it appears the date 1632. A horizontal table clock is a portable, flat timepiece from the Renaissance and Baroque periods (16th to 17th centuries), with its dial positioned horizontally on the upper surface and intended to be read from above. They were generally round or square, hexagonal or octagonal boxes made of gilt brass or bronze, often richly decorated and engraved. The dial was set horizontally into the top plate, often with just a single hour hand. This design was made possible by the invention of the mainspring and the fusee mechanism in the 16th century, allowing clocks to operate independently of pendulums and gravity in any position. Many examples were designed as astronomical clocks or alarm clocks and, in addition to the time, displayed the date, phases of the Moon or the position of the Sun. They were less intended as practical everyday objects than as precious works of art, status symbols and collectors’ items for princely courts. Case: very good, slightly rubbed. Dial: very good, slightly rubbed. Movm.: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.