From the sixteenth to the early seventeenth century, one of the largest centres of clock manufacturing in Europe was in Augsburg, Bavaria. Drawing on the skills of the armourer and locksmith, the coiled steel spring was increasingly used as the motive force. Despite its relative inaccuracy this meant that clocks could be made on a scale small enough to make them suitable for domestic use.
The gilded opulence of these clocks reflects the exuberance of the High Renaissance. They range from relatively simple horizontal table clocks to extravagant tabernacle clocks with two or three dials, often surmounted by a tiered rotunda containing bells for hourly and quarter-hourly striking. Many clockmakers specialised in mechanisms for automata, and the museum's collection includes examples of the simpler kind: the lion clock and the chattering skull clock.
Augsburg was the centre of the Counter-Reformation, and the images of Catholic Christendom are frequently found in clocks made there. Examples in the Heritage Services collections are the Virgin Mary, whose crown revolves to record the quarter hours, and the crucifix clocks with revolving globes. However the bitter religious conflict of the Thirty Years War ended Augsburg's reign as the clock-making capital of the world. The city was besieged and sacked, and before its position could be recovered, it had been overtaken by London.
Click on the images below to see a larger version
Pedestal Table Clock, South German, 17th Century
A pedestal table clock with verge escapement, circular dial with Niello work and a single hour hand. Made in southern Germany near the end of the 17th century.
It has a locking wheel mechanism and the movement and bell are contained within circular plates. The drum-shaped water gilt case has a baluster pillar support and a circular domed base.
Turmuhr or Tabernacle Clock c.1600
A South German gilt metal Turmuhr or tabernacle clock with a tiered rotunda, cupola and spire. By Appollinaris Meyer, Augsburg, c.1600. A maker of this name was at Basle from 1583-1610, and may have subsequently moved to Augsburg.
The double fusee movement was originally with verge escapement and balance but this has been converted to pendulum control. The striking train is mounted to the rear of the going and is activated by a 'nag's head' mechanism. The alarm train is mounted within separate plates to the side of the movement.
The Turmuhr case has a tiered rotunda surmounted by a cupola and spire. The lower arcaded section contains the bell; the upper contains the (later) bust of a man. The case is elaborately chased and engraved and the silver dials are engraved and enamelled in champleve style. The side panels are glazed to allow the movement to be seen.
This is an example of a small domestic table clock which could be carried from room to room and even house to house while still working. This was easier when the clock had a balance; when converted to pendulum control, although timekeeping vastly improved, it was less easy to transport.
Clock in the form of a Madonna with the Christ Child by Jeremais Pfaff, Augsburg
A gilt metal South German clock in the form of a Madonna with Christ child. Signed and dated, Jeremias Pfaff, 1643
Pfaff was known to be working as late as 1680, so this clock must be an early example of his work (1643), unless more than one maker of the same name was active.
The hexagonal movement is almost all brass with the wheels and potence plate gilded. Only the two wheels and pinions driving the crown are of steel. The going train is fusee driven while the strike has a spring barrel. The verge escapement has its original unsprung balance wheel. The strike is activated by a 'nags head' mechanism.
The hexagonal ebonised base stands on six gilded balls and is glazed so that the movement contains many decorative features inside as well as on the back plate. The gilded Madonna figure holds the Christ child who in turn holds an orb. In her left hand she holds the staff which indicates the quarter hours on her crown. The silver hour dial is at her feet.
