Console clock

A rococo console clock with a three-wing glazed cabinet case, closed from the top with a semi-circle, topped with a high boxed gable. The surface of the wooden structure is veneered with ebony and decorated with marquetry: the ornamentation is a symmetrical composition of scrolls of plant tendrils and decoratively curved leaves with delicate flowers on a tortoiseshell background. The most impressive is the setting of the ornaments in gilded bronze, covering the edges of the door and the corners of the cupboard, with elements of leaves combined with scallops, garlands of flowers and leaves. The scallop-shaped elements of the gilded bronze decoration adorning the lower part of the cabinet at the same time act as four legs. In the light of the door there are two seated putti: one holding an hourglass, the other holding a torch and a cockerel, symbolising the coming of the light, the beginning of the day and the overcoming of darkness.

The clock originally had a mechanism by E. Le Noir, then replaced by a mechanism by Ch. H. Haehnel with a signed clock face showing minutes and hours indications, as well as three holes for the spring tension drive of the running, striking and six-bell carillon. The strike regulator is a pinwheel. The carillon cylinder is coded with a melody playing every quarter of an hour.

In the Wilanów exhibition the clock stands on a rococo marquetry pedestal.

AK