A rare mid 18th century double automata twelve-tune musical table clock on 24 hammers and 12 bells Thomas Monkhouse, London The bell topped case with five original finials over a moulded cornice and four term figures to each canted corner, on a stepped base raised on brass block feet, the 8.5inch arched dial surmounted by a silvered arc detailing the choice of twelve tunes: Cassino, Minuet; Cicely Badger; Sukey bids me; Minuet; Scots Bonnet; March; Birks of Abergeldie; The Waterman; Lungolee; Air de Jolie; The Egg Hornpipe, over a polychrome painted scene depicting a male and female musical quintet featuring two standing woodwind musicians and three seated string musicians (the latter three originally with articulated arms bowing, one now remaining), over a recessed scene of a couple dancing, each figure comprising of two shaped and painted pieces hinged at the waist to emulate separate upper and lower body movements, each moving as the tune plays out, and performing in front of a painted audience, the dial with subsidiaries for Chime/Silent and Strike/Silent over a silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with recessed signature plaque to the painted centre, with date aperture, the massive triple chain fusee movement with fancy T-shaped plates, united by eight knopped pillars, with original verge escapement rack striking the hours on a large bell, playing one of twelve tunes on 13 graduated bells and 24 hammers, the shaped backplate engraved with foliate scrolls surrounding the signature Thos Monkhouse, London. 70cms (27 1/2ins) high Fußnoten Cassino, registered in 1770, is a march or a country dance tune, very popular in England and America from the end of the 18th century, but probably French in origin. Scots Bonnet, also known as Blue Bonnets Over the Border, is a Scottish Reel first registered in 1757. Birks of Abergeldie, a Scottish Reel first registered as "Abergeldie" in 1694. Robert Burns set lyrics to the melody in 1787. The Waterman is from the 1774 comic opera by Charles Dibdin (1745-1814). The lyrics are the following: And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman, Who at Blackfriar's Bridge used for to ply; And he feather'd his oars with such skill and dexterity Winning each heart and delighting each eye; He look'd so neat and row'd so steadily, The maidens all flock'd in his boat so readily, And he eyed the young rogues with so charming an air, He eyed the young rogues with so charming an air, That this jolly young waterman ne'er was in want of a fare. Egg Hornpipe, also known as Fisher's Hornpipe, extremely popular Reel and recorded in 1799. New Lungolee an Irish Jig, lyrics were added by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) and named Dear Harp of My Country. Cicely Badger is a minor character in Samuel Richardson's novel, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, published in 1753. Sukey Bids Me, a country dance printed in the The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure in 1749. For comparative literature, see Arthur Ord-Hume, The Musical Clock, Ashbourne (1995), front cover.
A rare mid 18th century double automata twelve-tune musical table clock on 24 hammers and 12 bells Thomas Monkhouse, London The bell topped case with five original finials over a moulded cornice and four term figures to each canted corner, on a stepped base raised on brass block feet, the 8.5inch arched dial surmounted by a silvered arc detailing the choice of twelve tunes: Cassino, Minuet; Cicely Badger; Sukey bids me; Minuet; Scots Bonnet; March; Birks of Abergeldie; The Waterman; Lungolee; Air de Jolie; The Egg Hornpipe, over a polychrome painted scene depicting a male and female musical quintet featuring two standing woodwind musicians and three seated string musicians (the latter three originally with articulated arms bowing, one now remaining), over a recessed scene of a couple dancing, each figure comprising of two shaped and painted pieces hinged at the waist to emulate separate upper and lower body movements, each moving as the tune plays out, and performing in front of a painted audience, the dial with subsidiaries for Chime/Silent and Strike/Silent over a silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with recessed signature plaque to the painted centre, with date aperture, the massive triple chain fusee movement with fancy T-shaped plates, united by eight knopped pillars, with original verge escapement rack striking the hours on a large bell, playing one of twelve tunes on 13 graduated bells and 24 hammers, the shaped backplate engraved with foliate scrolls surrounding the signature Thos Monkhouse, London. 70cms (27 1/2ins) high Fußnoten Cassino, registered in 1770, is a march or a country dance tune, very popular in England and America from the end of the 18th century, but probably French in origin. Scots Bonnet, also known as Blue Bonnets Over the Border, is a Scottish Reel first registered in 1757. Birks of Abergeldie, a Scottish Reel first registered as "Abergeldie" in 1694. Robert Burns set lyrics to the melody in 1787. The Waterman is from the 1774 comic opera by Charles Dibdin (1745-1814). The lyrics are the following: And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman, Who at Blackfriar's Bridge used for to ply; And he feather'd his oars with such skill and dexterity Winning each heart and delighting each eye; He look'd so neat and row'd so steadily, The maidens all flock'd in his boat so readily, And he eyed the young rogues with so charming an air, He eyed the young rogues with so charming an air, That this jolly young waterman ne'er was in want of a fare. Egg Hornpipe, also known as Fisher's Hornpipe, extremely popular Reel and recorded in 1799. New Lungolee an Irish Jig, lyrics were added by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) and named Dear Harp of My Country. Cicely Badger is a minor character in Samuel Richardson's novel, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, published in 1753. Sukey Bids Me, a country dance printed in the The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure in 1749. For comparative literature, see Arthur Ord-Hume, The Musical Clock, Ashbourne (1995), front cover.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
