A Königsberg ormolu crucifix clock

A Königsberg ormolu crucifix clock

Silver, iron, steel, glass, silver-plated bronze bell to the base. A gold cross applied with the Corpus Christi and a flying angel, surmounted by a globe with the hour dial running around its centre and a fixed hand. The finial formed as a small half-figure of a saint. Beneath the cross we see the figures of the Virgin and Saint John with a skull and bones. The clock in a hexagonal case with glazed oval windows to the facets and floral engravings. The plaque fully gilt, with openwork and engraved decor, contrasting blued steel regulators, screws, and studs. Engraved to the plate Georg Schulz Königsberg. Minor wear to the gilding of the edges, parts of the nimbus of the small half-figure lacking. H 33.1 cm.
Georg Schulz, mid / 2nd half 17th C.

Provenance

Private collection, Lower Saxony.

Literature

This clockmaker is mentioned in Abeler as a maker of hexagonal clocks as of 1650 (Meister der Uhrmacherkunst, Wuppertal 1977, p. 574), one in the collection of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum, illus. in: Maurice, Die deutsche Räderuhr, vol. II, Munich 1976, illus. 620). This sculptural piece is thought to be one of his finest works.