Second half of the 17th century.

Bronze/brass, gilt, partially silver-plated. 11 x 15 x 15 cm. 3.9 kg.

Plate signed. Square body with embossed floral ornaments and hinged underside on baluster feet, screwed-on viewing windows all around. Dial ring with blackened Roman numerals for the hours, outer dial ring with Arabic minute scale, open-worked hands, cloud symbols in the center and engraved moon disc in front of a gouilloched sky. Elaborately crafted plate with floral openwork applications, some parts in blued steel. Verge escapement with chain and fusee, quarter-hour striking mechanism on two bells in the base, three windings. The going and striking mechanisms function in the short-time test. Blued handle of the locking bolt in the base is loose.

Jeremias Pfaff the Elder, around 1618-1677, master clockmaker in Augsburg, self-employed from 1639, his son of the same name Jeremias Pfaff the Younger, 1651-1701, was self-employed as a master clockmaker from 1677. Table clocks by Jeremias Pfaff the Elder and Jeremias Pfaff the Younger can be found in international museums, an astronomical horizontal table clock in the Green Vault of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden * Partner auction Bergmann. All lots with a limit (starting price) of at least €1,500 are checked against the Art Loss Register database.

Literature : Abeler (2010) page 426.

Provenance : According to oral tradition, a Franconian private collector acquired the clock at the annual art and antiques fair in Maastricht (TEFAF) before 2002.