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 and hourly chime, quarter repeater, alarm, and repoussé case—with original leather transport case Dimensions: 96 mm, circa 1750, Weight 959 g, Origin: Germany, Original box Case: Transport case—covered in red leather. Outer case—silver, “repoussé” decoration, depicting Aeneas’ Farewell to Dido, openwork at the edges and finely engraved. Inner case—silver, openwork at the edges and finely engraved, rear bell. Dial: Gilded, champlevé, central rotating alarm disc, “N/S” lever to set strike/no strike for the striking train at “XI.” Movement: Full-plate movement, screwed-on, engraved with foliate scrolls, chain/fusee, 3 barrels, 3 hammers, verge escapement, count wheel, three-arm steel balance. The unostentatious back of the inner case features four separate openings for the winding squares, each with winding instructions. The openwork rim is richly ornamented with acanthus, volutes, flowers, fantastical birds, and shell motifs. The exquisitely executed repoussé outer case depicts, in high relief, the farewell scene between Aeneas and Dido within a cartouche adorned with volutes. The rim of this case is also openwork 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 July 3, 1725, in Friedberg, and, as a widower, married the widow Eva Seiz on November 24, 1733. His dates of birth and death 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 having a “good reputation” and being “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 housed 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. Movement: very good, in working order, cleaning recommended.