A Remarkable 17th Century North German Table Clock.
The Movement in a Silver Filigree Case.
The movement by Matt(h)ias Heidrich (sometimes Heydrich). Hamburg.
Size - approx. 13.5 × 8.5 × 11.5cm.
Coming up for auction in Hamburg at Karl-Heinz Cortrie GmbH. 26 October 2024, Lot 4259.
I have discovered a reference to the clock in a sale by Christie, Manson and Wood of the possessions of John Watkins Brett of Hanover Square, London "a beautiful small clock by Matthias Heidrich, Hamburg in case of silver filigree ornamented with small busts and vases on a plinth of lapis lazuli, £10, in the Art review No. 8, page 34, published London, 23April 1864.
Briefly Brett before becoming involved with the finance and spread submarine telegraph cables was an art dealer
John Watkins Brett ( b. c 1815 - d. Dec 1863) came from a furniture maker and mercantile family in Bristol.
His Residence and Headquarters were at 2 Hanover Square, London, on the South East corner from 1841.
When the estate of John Watkins Brett was finally settled in
December 1868 his residuary property totalled £60,000, from which the Scripture
Readers’ Union received £954 19s 10d and the Missions of the Church of the
United Brethren, the Moravians, received £1,993 19s 6d.
For an excellent comprehensive and very useful biography of John Watkins Brett see - https://atlantic-cable.com/CablePioneers/Brett/index.htm
The Cortrie Catalogue Entry (edited).
Table clock: astronomical Baroque table clock with striking mechanism, Mattias Heidrich. Hamburg 1676: exceptional case quality, silver/ gold, extremely elaborate and filigree work, wooden base, this is inscribed "Mattias Heidrich, Hambourg 1676", hinged on the back,
Full plate movement with striking mechanism on bell, short pendulum, plate also signed, champlevé dial with extremely early day/ night sun/ moon complication, single-handed, intact.
It is the earliest German clock with this complicated movement possibly even the earliest ever.
Provenance:
1. Collection "Au Vieux Cadran" of Raymond Laforêt, Paris;
2. Dr. Crott, lot 266 (https://www.cortrie.de/go/0L5).
In addition, a detailed article about this
clock was published in Klassik Uhren, issues 2/2009 and 3/2009 (source Dr.
Crott).
.........................
This fabulous little object had been previously offered for sale Auktionen Dr Crott. 29 June 2020. Lot 266. It failed to sell.
The detailed catalogue entry is below the images.
Mattias Heidrich - A lot in our 102nd Auction (uhren-muser.de)
An important, hour striking miniature table clock with day
and night indication by sun and moon dial in a silver case, decorated
completely with filigree work, from the former Raymond Laforêt collection
"Au Vieux Cadran", Paris
Case: silver and gold, filigree work, glazed side panels, hinged back door with mounted bell. Dial: silver and bronze, Champlevé.
Movm.:
rectangular brass full plate movement, signed, chain/fusee, count wheel, 1
hammer, short pendulum.
The case is decorated all-over with exquisite, silver wire filigree work and has the form of a Greek temple with fluted Corinthian pilasters, a pediment and different kinds of gold embellishments – literature describes this timepiece as "curieux travail de filigrane".
As the
structure only has a total height of 11 cm, it looks like a small, elaborately
ornamented jewel case with integrated clock. The "double" dial with
day and night indication by sun and moon display blends perfectly with the
case. It features retrograde Roman hours for day- and night time and an outer
minute ring with Arabic numerals. The upper half has a semi-circular cut-out to
display either the engraved, gold sun hours or the moon phases with engraved
silver moon and stars – sun and moon sections share a disc that revolves once
in 24 hours. When the sun sets on the right, the moon rises on the left.
This sun and moon dial is very unusual in a table clock – to our knowledge this is the only such piece.
It is documented that the clock originally rested on a lapis lazuli base and had - in addition to name and place of its maker – also the date of its creation, February 1676. This base was unfortunately lost and replaced by a wooden base with a brass sign, which copied the original inscription - so that the date of the clock’s making can be accepted as true.
We cannot say, however, if this timepiece was truly the very
first one with day and night indication by sun and moon dial because pocket
watches with this novel type of dial emerged in England and the Netherlands at
around the same time. The first such watches are dating from around 1680.
It is, however, certain that this is the earliest clock with sun and moon dial made in Germany, far away from the strongholds of the horological industry.
The clock was made by Matt(h)ias Heidrich (or Heydrich), who worked as a clockmaker in Hamburg in the late 17th century.
A verge pocket
watch with astronomical dial is also attributed to Heidrich (William L.
Scolnik, "A Catalog of Watches").
Provenance:
- Collection "Au Vieux Cadran", Raymond Laforêt,
Paris
Provenance A Swiss private collection
This clock was described in detail in "Klassik
Uhren", editions 2/2009 and 3/2009.26 Oct 2024.
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