Beschreibung:

A Black Forest carved wood cuckoo table clock Attributed to Johann Baptist Beha, Eisenbach, circa 1870 The wooden framed twin fusee movement with anchor escapement regulated by short pendulum with heavy brass-faced bob, the hour strike train with outside countwheel and linkages to two bellows and a cuckoo automaton who appears from behind the door above the dial to announce the hour with a two-note call followed by hammer sounding on a gong fitted to the inside of the rear case panel, the circular wooden dial carved with a rosette to centre within chapter ring applied with Gothic style bone numerals, with leaf carved and pierced bone hands and narrow moulded bezel, the gabled case with fine bird-in-flight centred vine trail carved fascia over naturalistic facade incorporating cuckoo automata and entwined leafy trail bird inhabited uprights flanking dial, the base with conforming apron set behind a carved and pierced picket fence apron panel applied with further vine leaves and terminating with a horizontal log and squab feet, the sides with small rectangular doors over conforming picket fence, the rear with lift-out panel fitted with a coiled gong to inside surface and applied with incomplete paper trade label for Camerer Cuss, London, 45cm (17.75ins) high. Johann Baptist Beha was born in Oberbrand, 1815 and was trained as a clockmaker by his father, Vinzenz, before setting-up on his own in Eisenbach in 1845. He specialised in cuckoo clocks and through his continuous development became the leading maker of fine and complex examples. His main export markets were to Russia (where he had a distribution warehouse in St. Petersburg) and the British Isles. He died in 1898 leaving the business to be continued by his sons Lorenz and Engelbert. Condition report disclaimer