VR-513 - Floor-Standing Second Baroque of month duration
The Second Baroque style, perhaps the most attractive of the styles of the latter quarter of the nineteenth century, is epitomized by the rococo flourishes so reminiscent of a style popular in the latter part of the eighteenth century. While the Altdeutsche offered a more formal approach, with its door columns and more architectural trim, the Second Baroque brought forward a much more stylized, or artistic presence - a fitting predecessor to the Art Nouveau period that followed.
If you are looking for a Second Baroque piece, you probably won’t find a nicer one. Note the engraved dial center, weights and bob - all matching and all in good to excellent condition. OK, so they are tarnished. None the less, they will clean up ever so easily, and be so perfect. Likewise with the dial. Finer clocks had engraved chapter rings, with numbers that were filled with either black wax or shellac. The chapters were then silvered. The engraving makes it rather simple to restore these chapter rings, in that they can be cleaned, polished, and silvered without losing the numbers. It is then a rather simple task to re-fill the numbers, and finish the dial. And, while this dial appears a bit dingy, please compare with clock 169's dial and hands to get an idea how 513's dial and hands will look after restoration. It is an amazing change. Of course, there are those of us who prefer to keep the clock in more of an “as found” condition, allowing the piece to gracefully reflect its life and age. I am finding myself more and more of this opinion as time goes by. But, I also have to admit, restoring a dial to its original glory is a wonderful way to preserve its original character. Needless to say with all of this build-up, I can restore this dial, as I have done many others (169 for example).
The case, with its beautifully executed and rather extensive carving is in very nice condition. It is amazing to see a case this complete and undamaged. It is hard to believe in all of the moves and “life” this clock has seen that it has not had its glorious top bit broken and lost. And, as with all of the Viennese-made Second Baroque cases, this one is very solid and very well made. With locking doors to the hood and trunk (with keys, working smoothly) and old glass throughout, this is a very nice clock, not to mention a beautiful example of this graceful style.
I find it interesting to look at the Viennese pieces of the late 1800's - made during a time when the Germans and Americans were competing to make clocks affordable for the masses. The Austrians continued to produce excellent mechanism, more appropriate for the middle of the 1800's, with the same high quality one expects to find in a late Biedermeier piece. This clock, with its single-piece, Graham dead-beat escapement, very finely made, very ornate hands, and exquisite engraving to the dial chapter ring is more appropriate for forty or fifty years earlier, when price was not the predominant quality by which a clock was judged. Better still, this clock runs for a month on a wind, and the mechanism has maintaining power, just one more sign that the maker intended his clock to keep time within seconds per month.
Read MoreIf you are looking for a Second Baroque piece, you probably won’t find a nicer one. Note the engraved dial center, weights and bob - all matching and all in good to excellent condition. OK, so they are tarnished. None the less, they will clean up ever so easily, and be so perfect. Likewise with the dial. Finer clocks had engraved chapter rings, with numbers that were filled with either black wax or shellac. The chapters were then silvered. The engraving makes it rather simple to restore these chapter rings, in that they can be cleaned, polished, and silvered without losing the numbers. It is then a rather simple task to re-fill the numbers, and finish the dial. And, while this dial appears a bit dingy, please compare with clock 169's dial and hands to get an idea how 513's dial and hands will look after restoration. It is an amazing change. Of course, there are those of us who prefer to keep the clock in more of an “as found” condition, allowing the piece to gracefully reflect its life and age. I am finding myself more and more of this opinion as time goes by. But, I also have to admit, restoring a dial to its original glory is a wonderful way to preserve its original character. Needless to say with all of this build-up, I can restore this dial, as I have done many others (169 for example).
The case, with its beautifully executed and rather extensive carving is in very nice condition. It is amazing to see a case this complete and undamaged. It is hard to believe in all of the moves and “life” this clock has seen that it has not had its glorious top bit broken and lost. And, as with all of the Viennese-made Second Baroque cases, this one is very solid and very well made. With locking doors to the hood and trunk (with keys, working smoothly) and old glass throughout, this is a very nice clock, not to mention a beautiful example of this graceful style.
I find it interesting to look at the Viennese pieces of the late 1800's - made during a time when the Germans and Americans were competing to make clocks affordable for the masses. The Austrians continued to produce excellent mechanism, more appropriate for the middle of the 1800's, with the same high quality one expects to find in a late Biedermeier piece. This clock, with its single-piece, Graham dead-beat escapement, very finely made, very ornate hands, and exquisite engraving to the dial chapter ring is more appropriate for forty or fifty years earlier, when price was not the predominant quality by which a clock was judged. Better still, this clock runs for a month on a wind, and the mechanism has maintaining power, just one more sign that the maker intended his clock to keep time within seconds per month.
