A square shaped table clock with quarter... - Lot 125 - Chayette & Cheval

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Lot n° 125
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Estimation :
25000 - 30000 EUR
A square shaped table clock with quarter... - Lot 125 - Chayette & Cheval
A square shaped table clock with quarter strike, Germany, the movement stamped twice 'CIG', the dial dated '1618'. Engraved gilt brass dial bearing on one side below 6 o'clock the legend 'SVRGITE * MORTVI * VENITE * AD * IVDICIVM' (rise, dead, come to judgment) and on the other three sides the word 'EWIG' (eternal). Engraved and punched minute scale divided to one minute and numbered every five in Arabic numerals. The numbers 15, 30, 45 and 60 are intersected by Roman numerals, viz '6IIII0', to indicate the quarter hours. Inside this scale there is a (later) hour scale in ungilded brass with engraved Arabic numerals. The centre is occupied at 12 o'clock by the initials 'F * V * K' above the (unidentified) coat of arms, surrounded by foliage emerging from a two-handled urn placed at 6 o'clock with the date '1618'. There is an iron needle with fleur-de-lys point (later, broken and re-welded) and the corners are occupied by sconces (also later) with symmetrical oak leaf and acorn decoration. Each side of the clock bears a partial inscription on the architrave. This begins on the face below the Latin inscription on the dial: Side I: * ESAI * 53 * DVRCH * SEIN * ERKENTNVS * Side II: * WIRDT * ER * MEIN * KNECHT * Side III: * DER * GERECHTE * VIL * GERECH * MACHEN * SIDE IV: * DEN * EN * TREGET * IRE * SVNDE* This inscription is taken from Isaiah 53 verse 11 which reads, in the Lutheran Bible version, in modern German, 'Und durch seine Erkenntnis wird er, mein Knecht, der Gerechte, viele gerecht machen; denn er trägt ihr Sünden', i.e. 'By his knowledge the righteous one, my Servant, shall justify many men, and he himself shall bear their iniquities. Below this inscription, each side is engraved with a landscape with allegorical figures, perhaps with an alchemical connotation, but of uncertain interpretation. Each side is pierced by an arcade of four windows to allow the sounding of the bell. The whole is supported on a base with four returns and triangular feet formed by fruits and foliage. The movement is square, with an original silvered movement cover plate, stamped 'CIG'. The 'G' in a shield flanked by stars, and bearing an old inventory number '10257',.spring loaded lock plate with openworked gilt 'S' shaped pull piece; three gear bodies for 'S[chlagen]', 'G[chlagen]', 'G[chlagen]', 'G[chlagen]' and 'G[chlagen]'. (chimes), 'G[ebend]' (time mobiles) (time mobiles); 'F[iertel (modern Viertel)], (quarters). Gilt brass back plate (locks missing), signed 'CIG' and bordered with a stylized leaf design with setting scales inside. Quarter dial (hand missing), iron wheels, brass barrels, verge escapement. Steel balance wheel (later) with stop and balance spring for which an adjustment scale has been engraved and the top of the large openworked and engraved cock modified. Internal gear wheel embedded in the plate, openwork and engraved setting wheel, several modifications. 153 x 153m (W of base); H. 117mm. Original clock modernized by the addition of a balance spring and a setting scale. The shape of the numerals and the hour ring suggest that these modifications were made around 1700. At that time the balance was replaced, the old setting levers removed, and the cock reinforced by a small plate imposed on its upper part. The original part is however still present under this plate. It is perhaps also at this time that the hour ring, probably originally in solid silver, was removed from the dial and replaced by the present brass one. It is however more difficult to say whether the keys originally placed next to the quarter hours to know the time during the night, and the locks blocking the movement of the case, were removed at the same time. The symbolism of the scenes engraved on the four sides of the clock seems to be quite eclectic. On the first side, the figure of the naked woman holding a torch represents the celestial Venus. She is the symbol of Love coming from a contemplation of the eternal and the divine, her nudity signifies purity and innocence. On the face II, the reference to Luna seems clear but the star on her head evokes the hermetic androgynous or hermaphrodite; the conjunction of the male and female principles in alchemy from which could come the philosopher's stone. If this is the case, we can see in the figure of a man with a 'dark' face (on face I) 'the red man'. This is the counterpart of the white woman in the hermaphrodite figure. The thinking man on face III, with a rabbit at his feet and a bear (?) behind him, may represent
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