Description
A highly sculptural Austrian Neoclassical wall clock featuring a wonderfully carved & brilliantly gilded eagle surmounting a ledge wrapped in swags of green fabric, grasping the material in its beak as its body stretches towards the sky. The center of the piece has a clock face situated in it with a Roman numeral chapter ring behind a glass door & the entire piece rests on paws of an unknown animal while the gilded fringes of the fabric dangle & create a lovely accent against the dark green of the fabric. Just below the clock face in the void formed in the fabric, a pierced pendulum swings back & forth. The eagle, animal paws & fabrics are all carved of a softwood, presumably pine though it is difficult to examine more fully. The reverse of the clock has a small wooden door secured with iron angled pins that rotate to release the door & give access to the silk-suspension works. It retains an original hanging ring on the top for seamless mounting on the wall. Measurements: 26" H x approx. 20" W x 5 1/2" D Condition Report: Apparently original gilding with some chipping, wear & loss - this includes the seam in the eagle's neck & the seam for the wings; overpainting to the gilding in a few areas; overall the eagle presents beautifully; green polychroming is early & lovely, originality unknown; chipping & wear to surfaces throughout exposing the underlying gesso; chipping to the enamel of the clock face (most notably on the far left around the screw, extensive chipping around the winding holes & some smaller chips on the far right around the screw), along with wear to the Roman numerals of the chapter ring: hours are lightly faded while minutes are almost entirely faded; front door hinge repaired with a thin piece of wire; presently non-functioning with original works intact but not examined for completeness & likely missing necessary elements; no winding key. Images of the movement available upon request. Fine Austrian Neoclassical Gilded Eagle Wall Clock, 19Th Century
