228 - Monogram "AMW" on the dial - Augsburg Table Clock

Monogram "AMW" on the dial - Augsburg Table Clock A museum-quality Augsburg table clock with a square case, featuring an hour strike and an alarm Dimensions: 75 x 120 x 120 mm, circa 1590, Origin: Southern Germany Case: Fire-gilt brass case, cast relief decoration, silver, winged claw feet (added later). Dial: Brass, fire-gilt, engraved; corner spandrels filled with winged cherub heads; engraved chapter ring with radial Roman numerals I–XII; applied hour knobs for nighttime time-reading; central alarm disc; control indicator for the striking mechanism; single iron hand. Movement: Square brass movement, punchmark AMW within a shield, screwed-on decorations, gut/fusee, 2 barrels for hour strike and alarm, 2 hammers / 1 bell, hog’s bristle, stack-freed, verge escapement, two-arm iron rim foliot without balance spring. The side panels are decorated with finely cast relief friezes depicting allegorical scenes based on the designs of the Swiss-German pewterer and block cutter Caspar Enderlein (1560–1633). They depict the figures Minerva, Rhetorica, Dialectica, and Grammatica set within oval cartouches, with various cityscapes in the background. Enderlein arrived in Nuremberg in 1583 as a journeyman from Basel. In 1586, he became a master craftsman and acquired citizenship. Caspar Enderlein primarily created molds for vessels with relief decoration, which were then produced in the workshops of other pewterers. The movement bears the master’s mark “AMW.” Jürgen Abeler attributes the monogram “AMW” to an unknown master. Works associated with this maker include: a table clock dating from 1590 in the British Museum, a hexagonal table clock (Stiftsmuseum Klosterneuburg), an astronomical table clock, a square table clock, a crucifix clock, and this clock. It was part of the world-famous Ernst Sarasin-Vonder Mühll Collection in Basel and was auctioned by Galerie Fischer on November 18, 1948. A horizontal table clock is a portable, small, flat clock from the Renaissance and Baroque periods (16th to 17th centuries), whose dial lies horizontally on the top and is read from above. They typically consist of four-, six-, or eight-sided cases made of gilded brass or bronze, often lavishly decorated and engraved. The dial lies horizontally on the top plate, often featuring only a single hour hand. This design became possible thanks to the invention of the mainspring and fusee in the 16th century, which allowed clocks to function in any position, independent of pendulums and gravity. Many examples were designed as astronomical clocks or alarms and displayed not only the time but also the date, moon phases, or the position of the sun. They served less as practical everyday objects and more as precious works of art, status symbols, and collector’s items for noble courts. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning needed.