A Magnificent Dutch Clock.
Circa 1665 - 70.
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I will in due course consider the objects in the Hermitage, St Petersburg Collection one by one updating the iformation in Menshikova and provide images of comparable examples.
H 17.8cm, W 20.0cm, D 13.8cm.
Adriaen van Hoecke was still using Breghtel's mark two
years after his master's death. He married Johanna Breghtel in 1659 and took
over Breghtel's workshop in 1682.
The clock is listed in the inventory of the contents of the Breghtel workshop in 1682 as "het grote silver horlogie met drie wijzerplaten, omtrent waardig vijff ende twintigh hondert gulden".
It was sold at
auction in Amsterdam 28 May 1715 as '"een Koninglyk Horlogie, zeer zwaer
met fyn zilv. fil de gryn omtrokken, en tuss. beiden versiert met uytmuntende
konstige gedreeve plaeten, zynde alle Historien uit Ovidius, beneffens
verscheide plaeten met heerlyke Lof en Bloemwerken, en rondom d. Coupel div.
sware vergulde Beelden, zynde alle overkonstig en deftig uytgevoerd, en 't
uurwerk gemaekt door H. Bregtel in 's Gravenhage, loopt een maend".
Sold by Christie's London on the 5 March 1869, Lot 471. Illustrated in auction catalogue with provenance of F.Davies who is leaving Bond Street. Bought by Benson (£340).
Bought by the South Kensington Museum ( V and A) from M. Band,
Lausanne on 9th April 1870. 'Earnestly recommended' by M. Digby Wyatt, April
8th 1870.
Silver Wonders from the East: Filigree of the Tsars, by Maria Menshikova. Published, Waanders, Zwolle, 2006. with additional material by Jet Pijzel-Dommisse.
This book presents for the first time the highlights from the filigree collection in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg and was published as a catalogue to accompany the exhibition in the Hermitage Amsterdam, from 27 April till 17 September 2006, organized by the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Amsterdam"
Unfortunately this work has the appearance of being rather hastily assembled and has many errors and inconsistencies. These mistakes have later been repeated by owners, dealers and museums. This has led to many recent mis attributions.
Many items which were previously thought to be of Asian origin were in fact made in the Netherland, Germany and Scandinavia. The situation is further complicated by the fact that filigree objects were also made in Italy, Spain, Portugal and in Latin America.
Hans Coenraet Brechtel (1609-1675) was undoubtedly one of the most important goldsmiths in the Hague in the 17th century. His career began with an object that may be regarded as one of the highlights of his career in terms of size, design and technical execution: the nearly 80 cm high silver-gilt goblet that the Winter Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia gave to the burgomasters of Leiden to thank them for the accommodation and education of her children. The queen is depicted in triumph on the lid, which also features a plaque with the royal arms of Bohemia. Surmounting a base decorated with sea creatures and as its stem a crouching satyr, the bowl is completely chased with sharply defined and lively auricular motifs. The decoration comprises cartouches around twelve oval compartments featuring punched depictions of insects, the elements, the senses and allegories of love, lust and transience. Particularly these refined punched engravings will have attracted attention. Brechtel signed the goblet with his name and the date.
He came from a highly educated family of scientists, teachers and calligraphers living in Nuremberg, and was trained there by an as yet unknown goldsmith. He probably also trained in Augsburg, as is evident from the German design of this goblet and his technical skills. Like other silversmiths from Augsburg, in the 1630s Brechtel moved to the Netherlands with its fast growing economy.
In the court city of The Hague his virtuosity was immediately recognised, as can be deduced from the commissions he received from the Bohemian court and that of the stadtholder, the States-General, foreign diplomats and princes. The large silver diaper basket for Prince Willem II and Princess Mary Stuart, the four enormous wall lights – a diplomatic gift to Russia from 1647 – and the gold cup for Frederick III of Denmark from 1653 illustrate his craftsmanship and versatility. Alongside auricular motifs other decorative motifs were introduced, such as flowers and children at play.
A print of three putti with glasses, signed by Brechtel but originally designed by Guido Reni, was applied on the Danish gold cup. Brechtel continued to apply auricular ornament in various ways well into the 17th century: in cartouches with strictly symmetrical lines of volutes (diaper baskets, the gold goblet and dish from Leiden); as a way of combining several objects with auricular features (guild shields); or in an elegant amalgamation of auricular volutes and acanthus leaf (wall lights for Russia).
Technically Brechtel excelled in casting (the Winter Queen’s goblet and the Danish gold goblet), in openwork ornament (baskets and flasks), in wire work or filigree, and in pointillé or punching. Although various silversmiths from The Hague (Andries Grill, Gerrit Vuystinck) produced work with auricular ornament of a similarly high quality, they never managed to achieve the quality of the pointillé decorations on the goblets of the Winter Queen and Frederick III.
Brechtel was able to profile himself as a virtuoso goldsmith who could compete with the great masters of his native region.
His name was so well known that
his workshop continued for another five years after his death under his
son-in-law Adriaen van Hoecke.
Signed 'HC Breghtel Fecit Hagae' on the back;
Signed 'Adriaen van den Bergh Fecit Hagae' on the back of the movement.
The text below is adapted from the V and A Collection Website.
The clock was displayed by the maker in his workshop in The Hague,
prior to his death; it was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1715.
Breghtel was born in Nuremburg in 1609. By 1640 he had established himself as a silversmith in The Hague. By the 1670s he was supplying silver for the Stadholder's family. He died in 1668.
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The clock is conceived as a Temple of Life surmounted by Time. The eight-day movement strikes the hours only on the bell in the cupola; three of the four sides have dials; the front dial has an enamelled hourglass supported by gilded putti.
The standing figures of classical deities on the corners of the clock represent the days of the week Diana-Monday; Mars-Tuesday; Mercury-Wednesday; Jupiter-Thursday; Venus-Friday; Saturn-Saturday; Apollo-Sunday.
Embossed plaques illustrating the Signs of the Zodiac (around the drum of the cupola), the Ages of Man and the Seasons (on the plinth) evoke the passage of time. Statuettes of classical deities, Venus and Cupid (February) Apollo, Mercury and Janus (January), Saturn and Diana, Jupiter and Mars (March) symbolizing the months, adorn the cornice; the reliefs of seasonal activities from the lives of the gods (on the plinth) provide appropriate commentary; thus, Diana bathing is illustrative of Summer. Scenes of teaching children, a younger couple walking, men warming themselves by the fire and an elderly couple hobbling on sticks illustrate mortal life. The frieze decoration above picks up the seasonal theme, fishes or 'pisces' evoke Winter; cornucopiae of flowers, Spring; Ceres' head, Summer and bunches of grapes, Autumn.
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This masterpiece (in the true sense of the word) was displayed in the goldsmith's workshop and was still there after his widow’s death in 1682. It was sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1715.
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5026802
Silver and Silver Gilt Clock Case by Jean Brisson,
Amsterdam, with Silver Filigree work movement bySeverijn and Johannes
Oosterwijck, sold Christies, Amsterdam, 19 Dec 2007.
Severijn and Johannes Oosterwijck, Amsterdam. Late 17th
Century and later.
The cupola top surmounted by a figure of Chronos and applied with foliate mounts terminating in theatrical mask mounts above a fretwork band, with panels below modelled in relief with zodiac figures and further panels applied with swag and mask mounts, the corners below mounted with female seasonal figures and with bud finials, the angles each with two half columns with Composite capitals and applied with filigree mounts of trailing foliage and engraved figures, the sides with over-glazed painted metal panels showing the Arms of Hervey for Bristol (probably 19th Century, see footnote), above plinth section with inverted breakfront sides with main panels modelled in high relief with figures emblematic of Philosophy and Astronomy and flanked by panels with figures representing the seasons, two signed J.Bouchon f. inv, four with initials J.B. f i,
The case is raised on bun feet, the gilded and engraved
arched dials with silvered Roman and Arabic chapter rings signed Sevryn en
Joh.s Oosterwyk/Amsterdam, blued steel hands (independently set but running
together), matted centres with date apertures, one with single ringed winding
hole and the other with two ringed winding holes, one arch with moonphase and
the other with strike/silent ring flanked by apertures for day of week and
month (with number of days), each with figural representation, the back-to-back
movement with triple chain fusees, side-positioned anchor escapement and
pendulum, quarter-striking on two large bells under the cupola via two hammers
and with hourly music playing Auld Lang Syne on thirteen bells with fifteen
hammers, via 9 cm. long pinned music cylinder; the case basically late 17th
Century and with later alterations, some losses to mounts and some mounts
later, the dials early 18th Century and adapted for the case, the movement also
early 18th Century but with alterations to the wheelwork and escapement, the
music work late 18th/19th Century; pendulum; crank key
89 cm. high
Illustrated, Ernst Bassermann-Jordan/Hans von Bertele, Uhren, Braunschweig, 1969, p.208
Referenced, Dr R Plomp, Spring-driven Dutch Pendulum Clocks 1657-1710, Schiedam, 1979, p.178
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Tardy, French Clocks, Clocks the World Over, Vol.III, Paris,
1982, pp.246-247
Jet Pijzel-Domisse ed., Haags Goud en zilver, edelsmeedkunst
uit de Hofstad, Zwolle, 2005, p.29, ill.16.
The present clock case appears to be based on that of a clock dating from circa 1665-1670 by the silversmith Hans Conrad Breghtel (1609-1675), with movement by Adriaen van den Bergh (a.1650 - d. after 1697) formerly in the collection of the Kings of Hanover and now in the Victoria and Albert museum (see Tardy, p.247).
It is not clear whether that clock was a
special commission or made to display Breghtel's craftsmanship. It stayed in
the possession of the silversmith and his family until it was sold at auction
in 1715 (see Pijzel-Domisse, p.29). The clock was certainly on public display
in The Hague and would have been a source of inspiration to others.
Plomp (p.178) refers to an advertisement of 1711 by Johannes Oosterwijck: 'Severijn Oosterwijck was the maker of a one-year movement for a magnificent spring-driven monumental clock by the artist Jean Brisson'. He further suggests that the same clock was offered for sale three years later as a joint product by Severijn and Johannes Oosterwijck, with the latter having replaced the movement with a new one with a carillon.
This appears to be the
present clock, which has also undergone further alteration since those made by
the Oosterwijcks, including to the case mounts and to the mechanism.
The arms are those of Hervey, quartering Thomas, Howard,
Warren, Mowbray, Audley and Felton for the Earls of Bristol and relate to the
second marriage of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (cr. 1714) (1665-1750/51)
to Elisabeth (d.1741), daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Felton, Bt., of
Playford, Suffolk, by Elisabeth Howard, daughter and co-heir of the 3rd Earl of
Suffolk, whom he married in 1695. The arms must relate either to George William
Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol (1721-1775) or to one of his descendants.
For Ousterwijck see -
http://www.antique-horology.org/oosterwijck/a-royal-haagse-klok.htm
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Website text here expertly translated by Google.
The magnificent Augsburg clock was a focal point in the clock room of the Kunsthaus, which Landgrave Carl furnished from 1696. The councillor Uffenbach from Frankfurt mention it in the description of a visit in 1709:
"In the middle stood on one foot a very large artificial clockwork, like a pyramid, on which many things could be seen." Next to the time and the date was the clock decorated with moving figures. Four putti, a figure of Mercury and a nest full of eagles could turn on themselves.
On the railing of the top floor, a ball seemed to run endlessly in circles and a musical mechanism is hidden in the body of the bottom floor. The watch could play four different, dance-song-like melodies. How the clock ended up in Carl's collection is unclear,
The only thing that can be ruled out with certainty is commissioned work. These were usually equipped with Carl's lettering or an image program related to his usual allegorical depictions of Minerva and Hercules.
However, neither is the case here. It remains unclear whether it was
a diplomatic gift or a targeted purchase. In any case, Carl appreciated the Augsburg
silver works and repeatedly bought objects between 1700 and 1711.
Literature:
Karsten Gaulke, Antje Scherner: The Augsburg magnificent clock. A masterpiece full of puzzles. Munich Kassel. 2007.
Kowalski, Christine: The Augsburg magnificent cabinets with clock by Heinrich Eichler d.Ä. (1637-1719) and his workshop. Berlin 2011, p. 65.
Bungarten, Gisela (ed.): Think big! made big? Landgrave Carl in Hesse and Europe. exhibition catalogue. Kassel, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel. Petersberg 2018, p. 520, cat. no. X.111.
A Coronation Cup of Hans Conrad Brechtel.
by J. G. VAN GELDER.
The writer here publishes a chased coronation cup, with lid, made by the Hague silversmith, H. C. Brechtel, in 1653, for King Frederic III of Denmark (Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen).
To Brechtel's work still in existence may be added the palette with gold paintbrushes for Dan. Segers (1649), now in the Municipal Print Room, at Antwerp, and the silver bread salver mentioned by H. E. van Gelder in a postscriptum (Collection of H. M. the Queen), a little marriage casket, of 1668 (Collection N. N.), and a gold chalice with coat of arms in enamel, of 1677, finished two years after Brechtel's death (Prot. Reformed Deaconry, Utrecht).
Finally, a few archivalia (Nassau Dom. Archives) which make mention of 4 gold medals (1660) and
gold "Chinoiserie" ornament, made by Brechtel in
1664 and 1665 for the Prince.
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Of more than Tangential Interest.
The Jacobus Jancke Cabinet.
with very similar clock to the V and A Brechtel Clock.
Engraving.
Rijksmusem.
Is the surround to the clock silver filigree?
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-OB-76.476
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A Silver Wall Sconce in the Kremlin Museums.
by Hans Conreidt Breghtel.
93 cms.
The silver wall sconce with a single candleholder shown in the was presented to Czar Alexis Mikhaylovich by an ambassador from the States General of the Dutch Republic in 1648.
It was made in The Hague by Hans Conraedt Breghtel, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany and became one of the most famous silversmiths working in The Hague at the time. The sconce is decorated with motifs in the auricular style that was popular in the seventeenth century and is exemplified by rippling forms that resemble the human ear.
The style was initiated by goldsmiths of the van Vianen family of
Utrecht and spread throughout Europe in the first decades of the seventeenth
century. The round medallion in the centre of this wall light bears a Russian
two-headed eagle under two crowns with an eight-pointed star between them.
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A Silver Layette by Breghtel in the Inner Temple Collection, London.
The crowned arms of Orange (for Prince William II) impaling
those of Stuart (for Mary daughter of Charles I) supported by the lion of
Holland and the unicorn of England. It is decorated with vines and peacocks for
fertility and marital fidelity, but there are also monkeys and weasels seeking
to feast off the grapes, which are a symbol of chastity and virginity. The
basket may have been given to Mary by her aunt and godmother, Elizabeth the
“Winter Queen”.
