German Renaissance horizontal table clock

A square German Renaissance box clock from approximately 1615. The brass and bronze case is entirely gilded, with the exception of the rims around the glass windows on the sides and the outer numeral ring. The top of the clock is richly engraved, with a slightly recessed outer border embellished with scales and flowers. In the centre of the box’s top is the dial, which comprises a double numeral ring and, in the centre, a round, engraved landscape with villages and a lake. The outer numeral ring shows the minutes, with Arab numerals for the five-minute intervals and Roman numerals for the quarter-hours. The inner numeral ring notes the hours in Roman numerals, with small engraved crosses between them to mark the half-hours.

Movement
The one-day movement has a going train and a quarter-striking train. It is mounted between two square plates interconnected by twisted baluster-shaped pillars, and has three trains. The movement is driven by two springs in fire-gilt barrels. The going train is executed with a brass fusee and chain, and a verge escapement with an iron balance and hairspring. The rate can be regulated by means of a small disc on the rear plate. The balance cock, lifting pieces, pallet cock and a further decorative component are richly openworked and engraved with floral and foliate patterns. The striking trains for the hours and the quarter-hours are both driven by a spring barrel. The countwheel striking train for the hours sounds the hours fully on a low-pitched bell, while the quarter-hour countwheel striking train announces the quarter-hours on a higher-pitched bell.  

The clock bears a monogram on the rear plate: *T*R*. This refers to either Tobias Reichel, a clockmaker from Dresden who was active during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, or to Thomas Röhr, who also worked in Dresden as a Hofuhrmacher during this period, but was born in Prague.

Literature:
H.M. Vehmeyer, Clock; their origin and development 1320-1880, vol. II, 2004, p. 158-159