VR-339 - Month-duration Austrian late-Biedermeier timepiece by Johann, Aron, Eisenerz.
Claterbos does not list an Aron, and, while I am not absolutely positive on the name of the town, it looks to be Eisenerz, a small mining community in northern Styria.
Long-duration Viennese wall clocks are the focus for most collectors of finer Vienna Regulators. And this clock, with its two-piece porcelain dial, very ornate pie-crust bezel, and beautiful case deserves the attention of anyone looking for a gorgeous late-Biedermeier timepiece. The white porcelain dial is in very good condition with two very faint hairline cracks to the center. It seems like every clock I look at in this auction also has beautiful hands - this one is not to be outdone with hands that are so correct for the less severe, more artistic last half of the Biedermeier. Note the five-spoke pulley (which appears to be gold plated), correct weight, original wall stabilizers, wood-handled winding key, and quite unusual beat scale.
It is important to remember that, though I do not go into a great deal of detail about the mechanisms, long duration Viennese clocks have some of the finest mechanisms ever made. These clocks run a month on a weight that would drive the nicer German clocks for a week. They have finer pivots, beautifully cast bridges, not the bent brass found in factory-made clocks: They really are a pleasure to work on, and have a such a quiet beat.
This clock, with its headpiece and three finials intact, is in very nice, and very complete condition. While it has minor faux-finish damage to the inside bottom of the case, and to the side of the base, it is a very presentable, elegant example of the latter part of the Biedermeier period. And, as discussed below, its minor flaws would be easily rectified.
Read MoreLong-duration Viennese wall clocks are the focus for most collectors of finer Vienna Regulators. And this clock, with its two-piece porcelain dial, very ornate pie-crust bezel, and beautiful case deserves the attention of anyone looking for a gorgeous late-Biedermeier timepiece. The white porcelain dial is in very good condition with two very faint hairline cracks to the center. It seems like every clock I look at in this auction also has beautiful hands - this one is not to be outdone with hands that are so correct for the less severe, more artistic last half of the Biedermeier. Note the five-spoke pulley (which appears to be gold plated), correct weight, original wall stabilizers, wood-handled winding key, and quite unusual beat scale.
It is important to remember that, though I do not go into a great deal of detail about the mechanisms, long duration Viennese clocks have some of the finest mechanisms ever made. These clocks run a month on a weight that would drive the nicer German clocks for a week. They have finer pivots, beautifully cast bridges, not the bent brass found in factory-made clocks: They really are a pleasure to work on, and have a such a quiet beat.
This clock, with its headpiece and three finials intact, is in very nice, and very complete condition. While it has minor faux-finish damage to the inside bottom of the case, and to the side of the base, it is a very presentable, elegant example of the latter part of the Biedermeier period. And, as discussed below, its minor flaws would be easily rectified.