244 - Johan Wolfgang Bollinger - Aeneas' Farewell to Dido

Johan Wolfgang Bollinger - Aeneas' Farewell to Dido An exquisite Friedberg Baroque pair-cased coach clock with quarter hour/hour strike, quarter repeater, alarm and repoussé case - with original leather transport case Dimensions 96 mm, circa 1750, Weight 959 g, Origin Deutschland, Original box Case: Transport case - covered with red leather. Outer case - silver, "repoussé" decoration, depiction of Aeneas' Farewell to Dido, openwork at the edges and finely engraved. Inner case - silver, openwork at the edges and finely engraved, rear bell. Dial: Gilt, champlevé, central rotating alarm disc, lever "N/S" to set strike/not strike for striking train at "XI". Movm.: Full plate movement, screwed-on, engraved foliate scrolls, chain/fusee, 3 barrels, 3 hammers, verge escapement, count wheel, three-arm steel balance. The unostentatious back of the inner case there has four separate openings for the winding squares, each with winding instructions. The open work rim is richly ornamented with acanthus, volutes, flowers, fantastical birds, and shell motifs. The exquisitely executed repoussé outer case shows in high relief the farewell scene of Aeneas and Dido within a cartouche adorned with volutes. The rim of this case is also open-worked and lavishly decorated with Baroque-style ornamentation. The four case axes are embellished with relief portrait busts. Watch and clockmaker Johann Wolfgang Bollinger (Pollinger) married Catharina Treffler (died 1733) on 3 July 3, 1725 in Friedberg, and, as a widower married the widow Eva Seiz on November 24, 1733. His birth and death dates cannot be found in the Friedberg records. Bollinger was mentioned in 1741 as a maker of saddle clocks (coach clocks) and in 1761 as a maker of small clocks in Friedberg. On June 1, 1744, Bollinger was described as “good reputation” and “skilled in the art.” The godfather of several of Wolfgang Bollinger’s children was the Friedberg watchmaker Mathias Schreiner. One of his coach clocks is held in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and a pocket-watch movement is preserved in the Friedberg local history museum. Source: Adelheid Riolini-Unger "Friedberger Uhren", Heimatmuseum der Stadt Friedberg, Augsburg 1993, p. 174 Case: very good, slightly rubbed. Dial: very good. Movm.: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.