Existing comment:
Clock
case ca. 1710, movement ca. 1760–70
Clockmaker: Franz Xavier Gegenreiner
The play of textures on the case of this clock characterizes the commanding originality of Augsburg silversmith Johann Andreas Thelot, who became one of the city's most celebrated artisans. The reliefs are framed with gilded curtains to create stagelike scenes devoted to the goddess Venus at her toilette (top), Diana and three nymphs (right), Venus and Mars (bottom), and Vulcan and his consort, Venus (left). The small relief accentuating the base illustrates the four seasons, recalling the eternal passage of time. The quarter-striking movement was fitted in this astonishing case about fifty years after its production. |