What is this object, who made it, and how do we know?

clocks

"DS" - Vienna Table Clock

1632

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. The square movement bears the inscription "Wyen" underneath the balance, and is signed with the monogram "DS" inside a shield. 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. 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.

clocks

« La clémence de Napoléon envers Madame de Hatzfeld ». Importante pendule mystérieuse en bronze finement ciselé

Vers 1830

« La clémence de Napoléon envers Madame de Hatzfeld ». Importante pendule mystérieuse en bronze finement ciselé, patiné et doré à l'or mat et à l'or bruni ; le mouvement dissimulé, est inscrit dans un trumeau de forme borne orné d’un tain au mercure d’où émergent les aiguilles et les heures en chiffres romains. La terrasse en marbre vert reposant sur 4 pieds griffes, accueille le groupe sculptural représentant Napoléon Ier demandant à la princesse Hatzel de brûler la lettre de son mari prouvant sa trahison. L’ensemble repose sur une base en bois de placage munie de deux boutons tirettes pour le remontage et la mise à l’heure de la sonnerie.

pocket watches

(157) EARLY GOLD PATEK LÉPINE WITH QUARTER REPEATER

Case back engraved with a central coat of arms featuring a crescent moon and star surmounted by a crown with foliage, a fluted Breguet-style center section, and a Soviet silver hallmark (14K). Movement: Quarter-repeater striking on bells; silver-plated and engine-turned (guilloché) movement plate; duplex escapement; flat regulator; monometallic balance; key or bow wind; crown-set hands. A distinctive feature is the winding system—operated via the bow—which is one of the earliest examples, as it winds in only one direction. This watch is highly interesting, as it is listed among the first series of Patek timepieces.

fans

1779-90, souvenir fan leaf from the Bay of Naples; ivory sticks were possibly carved in England

1779-1790

Fan with carved and pierced ivory sticks, set with glass pastes and a paper leaf. It depicts Italian views and inscriptions including the Grotta del Cane (Cave of Dogs), a view of Pozzuoli and the bridge of Caligula and Vesuvius erupting on the night of 8 August 1779. The reverse shows a framed view of a cottage and a piece of striped ribbon. The ivory sticks are beautifully carved, and the classical urns on the guardsticks are painted in blue enamel and gold paint. The ivory sticks are carved with scenes from Classical mythology. Apollo and Daphne are represented in the central cartouche, with putti in the smaller compartments.

clocks

A clock in a case of marble and Derby porcelain, mounted on a tall plinth

1787

A clock in a case of marble and Derby porcelain, with gilt-brass mounts, mounted on a tall plinth veneered in satinwood and mahogany, with an oval painted panel showing Apollo driving the chariot of the sun, surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. The clock face is mounted in a section of a fluted pillar and a figure of a man in classical drapery is consulting it, and showing it to a child. The clock was made by the firm of Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker to George III. The biscuit figures are based on models that are likely to have been made by John Deare (1759-1798). This scene derives from an engraved gemstone illustrated in Bernard de Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained , published in London between 1721 and 1722.

clocks

A long-case clock with 8-day movement, the case veneered in walnut with arabesque marquetry panels, the brass dial with silvered chapter ring, inscribed 'HENR- GODFREY LONDON'.

c.1700

The case is of oak, veneered in walnut with panels of arabesque marquetry in a paler wood. The square hood is flanked by turned wooden pillars set with arabesque marquetry and with brass bases and capital of Doric form. Brass dial plate with ringed winding holes and seconds aperture, matted centre with curly patterned engraving around the calendar aperture behind which is a silvered calendar ring. 8-day brass and steel, weight driven, two train movement. Henry Godfrey, who made this clock, was a member of the Clockmakers' Company in London from 1685 to 1707.