Gilt bronze and porcelain arched shaped clock. The dial is composed of a porcelain plate depicting HRH Maria Carolina Duchess of Berry (1798-1870) in a hilly landscape with cupids holding garlands of roses, on which a hole is opened for reading the hours on rotating dials. Two-train movement with backcharge, double-wheel escapement (illustrated at page 68 of "Échappements d’horloges et de montres" Charles Gros 1913) and lateral pendulum striking the hours and quarters. Silver disc-shaped dials with Arabic numerals. France, 1825/1830 (cm 59x30x13,5) (defects and minor replacements) Most likely this clock came from the Music Room of the Royal Palace of Naples. In the State Archives of Naples, Casa Reale Amministrativa, III inv. envelope 88, there is a list of objects that the Queen Mother (Maria Isabella of Bourbon Spain (1789-1848) took from the Royal Palace and from the Royal Palaces of Portici and Capodimonte to furnish her new residence (the Queen's Casino in the park of Capodimonte), including "a gilt bronze table clock with music underneath, four airs, located in the pedestal, in the front of said clock on glazed porcelain is the portrait of HRH the Duchess of Berry". The same clock is described in the inventory of 1848 as a table clock in gilded bronze with a porcelain figure on front, with the indication of the hour in "scappatoio", crystal bell and music in the base. The two inventories mention that the clock possessed a musical apparatus that no longer exists. It is important to note that in many examples of horology, musical machines could be placed in a pedestal separate from the case, and only in a few cases were the two systems connected by mechanical gears. In the mechanism of the clock presented here (and in particular on the front plate) there is a snail that makes one revolution per hour but is no longer connected to anything. This component supports the plausible theory that the clock originally rested on a musical pedestal just like the one described in the inventories of the Royal House of Bourbon. The mechanism, certainly original and of great quality, is applied to the case by means of three brass brackets that were probably replaced in the not recent past. On that occasion, the new brackets caused a distancing of the rotating dials from the reading hole on the dial making it more difficult to read the hours. This modification, as well as some other small changes certainly reversible, do not compromise in our opinion the integrity of the piece. Bibliography: -Charles Gros, Échappements d'horloges et de montres, 1913 -Naples 1836, the rooms of the Queen Mother edited by Patrizia Rosazza Ferraris. Rome, Mario Praz Museum, 2008-2009 With critical notes by Alvar González-Palacio
Gilt bronze and porcelain arched shaped clock. The dial is composed of a porcelain plate depicting HRH Maria Carolina Duchess of Berry (1798-1870) in a hilly landscape with cupids holding garlands of roses, on which a hole is opened for reading the hours on rotating dials. Two-train movement with backcharge, double-wheel escapement (illustrated at page 68 of "Échappements d’horloges et de montres" Charles Gros 1913) and lateral pendulum striking the hours and quarters. Silver disc-shaped dials with Arabic numerals. France, 1825/1830 (cm 59x30x13,5) (defects and minor replacements) Most likely this clock came from the Music Room of the Royal Palace of Naples. In the State Archives of Naples, Casa Reale Amministrativa, III inv. envelope 88, there is a list of objects that the Queen Mother (Maria Isabella of Bourbon Spain (1789-1848) took from the Royal Palace and from the Royal Palaces of Portici and Capodimonte to furnish her new residence (the Queen's Casino in the park of Capodimonte), including "a gilt bronze table clock with music underneath, four airs, located in the pedestal, in the front of said clock on glazed porcelain is the portrait of HRH the Duchess of Berry". The same clock is described in the inventory of 1848 as a table clock in gilded bronze with a porcelain figure on front, with the indication of the hour in "scappatoio", crystal bell and music in the base. The two inventories mention that the clock possessed a musical apparatus that no longer exists. It is important to note that in many examples of horology, musical machines could be placed in a pedestal separate from the case, and only in a few cases were the two systems connected by mechanical gears. In the mechanism of the clock presented here (and in particular on the front plate) there is a snail that makes one revolution per hour but is no longer connected to anything. This component supports the plausible theory that the clock originally rested on a musical pedestal just like the one described in the inventories of the Royal House of Bourbon. The mechanism, certainly original and of great quality, is applied to the case by means of three brass brackets that were probably replaced in the not recent past. On that occasion, the new brackets caused a distancing of the rotating dials from the reading hole on the dial making it more difficult to read the hours. This modification, as well as some other small changes certainly reversible, do not compromise in our opinion the integrity of the piece. Bibliography: -Charles Gros, Échappements d'horloges et de montres, 1913 -Naples 1836, the rooms of the Queen Mother edited by Patrizia Rosazza Ferraris. Rome, Mario Praz Museum, 2008-2009 With critical notes by Alvar González-Palacio
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
