733 - Column clock in portal form, ebonised wood with white columns and swan motif, probably Biedermeier

Column clock in portal form, ebonised wood with white columns and swan motif, probably Biedermeier Ebonised wood, column clock, also known as portal clock. Rectangular base with fluting, supporting two white, finely veined columns with gold-coloured Corinthian capitals and gold-coloured bases on brass-coloured plinths. Stepped entablature with fluted pier sections, lateral finials and a curved central crest with scrolled ends, the front with engraved decorative appliqués with palmettes, rosettes, leaf tendrils and acanthus. Drum-shaped movement case with silver-coloured bezel. White dial with black Arabic numerals, minute track, two winding holes and black hands with lozenge-shaped thickening. Below the movement case a decorative element of two swans facing each other, carved wood with gold-coloured finish. Movement with half-hour and hour strike on a gong. Pendulum present, with pierced round pendulum bob. Function not tested. Condition commensurate with age, dial glass missing. 48x29x10 cm (HxWxD). The portal clock is a variant of the bracket clock: two or more columns form a portal and support the movement. Its classic form originated in the French Directoire and passed via Empire and Neoclassicism into the Biedermeier period, spreading from France via southern Germany to Vienna and further east. In the Vienna region such column clocks were very popular between 1820 and 1850. Whereas French pendules have cases of fire-gilt bronze, cut glass or marble, Austrian clockmakers mostly built the structure of wood and decorated it with sheet metal appliqués, the columns often of alabaster. Their striking mechanisms strike on a gong instead of a bronze bell, and the freely visible pendulum of these table clocks is often decorated.