Ormolu mounted rosewood and ebonised wood musical clock

This exceptional clock is a spectacular piece of early nineteenth-century Austrian design. The clock is crafted from rosewood, ebonised wood, and ormolu in an ornate Baroque style, and features a complicated music box in its interior.

The clock case is designed in an architectural manner: the main case of the clock is centred with a circular enamel dial inscribed with Roman numeral hour indices and Arabic numeral five-minute marks, while the dial is surrounded by knotted ormolu ribbons and swags. The surrounding case is crafted from ebonised wood accented rosewood. Surrounding the dial are a series of ormolu columns, each with an Ionic capital and a fluted shaft encompassed by twisting garlands. The case below is also architectural in manner, with the rosewood structure mounted with ormolu wreaths and other classicising motifs. The base is set atop a bracket-like support, which features an ebonised wood shelf adorned with an ormolu Greek key pattern frieze, all above a rosewood underside mounted with ormolu.

The ‘roof’ of the clock is similarly formed: above the capitals, an ebonised wood frieze is set with an ormolu rinceau, while the domed roof-like top is crafted from ebonised wood and mounted with a host of ormolu motifs. Allegories of music in ormolu stand atop the roof, while a sculpture of Apollo functions as an acroterion.

The interior of the clock features a single-cylinder music box with a small organ and 21 tubes activated by a bellows.

The clock is set atop a later plinth.

Total height: 211cm
Clock: Height 135cm, width 86cm, depth 52
Stand: Height 76cm, width 81cm, depth 48cm