RARE BAROQUE LUCERNE "TOWER" CLOCK Lucerne, ca. 1680. The case signed 'Martin Käppelin A Lucerna' (Martin Käppelin, mentioned 1652–1669, deceased 1691).

Gilt copper and blued iron. Rectangular closed architectural case, the corner pilasters with Doric capitals. Round temple-shaped belfry, with a standing figure of Venus on the bell. The corners with seated angels (possibly later). On a square stepped base with claw feet. The front with applied silvered chapter rings, arranged one on top of the other, for the hours and the quarter-hours. The rear with two small dials for setting the striking mechanism. Finely-crafted movement with blued and carved iron pillars, movement with verge escapement and front pendulum (initially with wheel escapement), striking mechanism, striking the 1/4-hour on two bells. Repetition.
22 × 22 × 38 cm.

Gilding rubbed, striking mechanism needs to be adjusted.

Little is known about Martin Käppelin (1652-1691), who worked in Lucerne and came from a family of watchmakers. Until the middle of the 16th century, there were hardly any watchmakers in Lucerne. Later, from the 17th century onwards, some watchkmakers are mentioned who made tower clocks and house clocks. Jürgen Abeler mentions a first work by Marte Käppelin in 1604, a repair on the church tower clock in Sarnen. Marte Käppelin was probably an uncle or the father of Martin Käppelin, of whom Abeler mentions three tower clocks, including one in the Museum of Clocks and Mechanical Musical Instruments in Oberhofen, a tower clock dated 1662 in a private collection, and another said to have been sold at Christie's in 1980. Another tower clock by Martin Käppelin, dated around 1650, belongs to the Collection of the Swiss National Museum (Inv. No. LM-16201).
Cf. Jürgen Abeler. Meister der Uhrmacherzunft. Wuppertal. 2nd edition, 2010. p. 281.