Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
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Lot 244
A very rare Meissen figural clock case and stand, circa 1730
6 December 2018, 16:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£60,000 - £80,000
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Sebastian Kuhn
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Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
A very rare Meissen figural clock case and stand, circa 1730
Modelled by Gottlieb Kirchner, with drapery painted with sprigs of indianische Blumen enclosing the clock over four gilt-edged scroll brackets, below moulded hangings with tassels embellished with gilt scrollwork below the rim, the front and sides painted with chinoiserie scenes within moulded recessed panels edged with gilt scrollwork, the sides with two further chinoiserie vignettes on scrollwork brackets, applied with a figure of a child on each of the upper scrolls, and a woman on each of the lower scrolls, on a shaped rectangular pedestal with four sphinx supports clad in iron-red and blue drapery around a central scroll-moulded, gilt-edged finial, the sides painted with gilt-edged chinoiserie scenes at the corners, and similar vignettes within moulded, recessed panels with gilt scrollwork borders on all sides, the base with gilt scrollwork and trellis motifs, embellished in iron-red, the later movement with a white enamel dial with black Arabic and Roman numerals, mounted with a gilt-metal hinged door with pierced scrollwork at the rear, 37.5cm high, crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue to both (minor restoration) (2)
Footnotes
Provenance:
The Trustees of Lord Hillingdon, sold Christie's London, 3 July 1972, lot 166
Literature:
R. Roos (ed.), Meissen SO-IL, exhibition catalogue, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2011), pp. 54-55
Exhibited:
Amersfoort, Kunsthal KAdE, Meissen SO-IL, 28 May-28 August 2011
A similar model is in the Zerilli-Marimò Collection; see the detailed discussion of the model by Ulrich Pietsch in A. d'Agliano, European Porcelain from the Zerilli-Marimò Collection (2014), no. 13. Pietsch dates the model to 1729 based on a bill that records "the modeller Fritzsche has just made a table clock shape with fine decorations and every sort of figure, for which the sculptor Kirchner provided the model; it is very pleasing to look at, and we hope that it will maintain its shape without defects after firing" (p. 68). The author notes (p. 70) that Kirchner may have been inspired by a sandstone, marble and alabaster tomb monument on which he probably also assisted, and that approximately ten examples of this clock case are recorded.
A similar mounted example is in the Dresden Porcelain Collection, and another, without the supporting sphinxes on the base, is in the Arnhold Collection, New York (M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain 1710-50 (2008), no. 33, and fig. 33.1, for the Dresden example). Cassidy-Geiger notes (p. 234) that clock cases were planned for the decoration of the Japanese Palace and delivered in 1734; and that an inventory by the Meissen manufactory of pieces in production in November 1733 included sixteen clock cases.
Kaendler's work records for January 1735 note that he repaired this model: '1 Uhrgehäuße, woran befindlich ein ausgekröpftes Postament, worauf 4 Sphinxe ruhen und das Uhrgehäuse tragen, daran noch 5 andern Figuren, als der Saturnus, welcher die Zeit vorstellt, auf 2 Weibel und 2 Kindel samt unterschiedl. Zierrathen. Welches wiederum aufs neue in brauchbaren Zustand versetzt u.z. abformen tüchtig gemacht' [1 clock case, consisting of a shaped pedestal on which are 4 recumbent sphinxes carrying the clock case, in addition there are five other figures, with Saturn, who depicts Time, above two female figures and two children including various ornamentation. Which has been once again renewed and brought back to usable condition and made smart for moulding].
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