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Antique Brass Inlaid Goncalo Alves Musical Boardroom Clock, 19th Century

$9,356.62List Price

About the Item

An impressive brass inlaid Gonçalo alves musical Westminster Chiming ormolu mounted boardroom clock with triple fusee movement, circa 1880 in date. The fine quality eight day duration movement is fitted with chain fusees and rise and fall regulation. The substantial engine turned movement with anchor escapement quarter chiming on eight bells and also chiming the hours on a large gong. The gilded brass arched dial with decorative floral and foliate engraving and four silvered chapter dials. It has a 7 3/8 inch silvered chapter ring with three smaller subsiduary silvered dials to the arch. The stunning breakfront case with brass inlaid frieze, gilded ormolu Corinthian columns and mounts, the sides with gilt brass red silk backed frets. The case is surmounted with a beautiful rounded cornice with a large central gilded ormolus pineapple finial and four further flaming ormolu finials to the corners. It keeps really good time and is delightful to look at. Condition: The clock is in excellent working condition the movement having been cleaned and serviced, the case having been polished, in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Restoration Done: Movement dismantled and all parts examined and tested. All detents and pivots re-ground and polished. 9 Bearings supplied and fitted. All steel and brass components cleaned, buffed and burnished. Escapement dismantled, cleaned, synchronised and set. Movement regulated. Case cleaned and polished. Dimensions in cm: Height 76 x width 44 x depth 28 Dimensions in inches: Height 29.9 x width 17.3 x depth 11.0 Gonçalo alves is a hardwood (from the Portuguese name, Gonçalo Alves). It is sometimes referred to as tigerwood — a name that underscore the wood’s often dramatic, contrasting color scheme. While the sapwood is very light in color, the heartwood is a sombre brown, with dark streaks that give it a unique look. The wood’s color deepens with exposure and age and even the plainer-looking wood has a natural luster. Ormolu - (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'. The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. After circa 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt.. The Westminster Quarters is the most common name for a melody used by a set of clock bells to chime on each quarter hour. The number of chime sets matches the number of quarter hours that have passed. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, or the Cambridge Chimes from its place of origin, the church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. This chime is traditionally, though without substantiation, believed to be a set of variations on the four notes that make up the fifth and sixth measures of "I know that my Redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah. This is why the chime is also played by the bells of the so-called 'Red Tower' in Halle, the native town of Handel. It was written in 1793 for a new clock in St Mary the Great, the University Church in Cambridge. There is some doubt over exactly who composed it: Revd Dr Joseph Jowett,Regius Professor of Civil Law, was given the job, but he was probably assisted by either Dr John Randall (1715–99), who was the Professor of Music from 1755, or his brilliant undergraduate pupil, William Crotch (1775-1847). In the mid-19th century the chime was adopted by the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster (where Big Ben hangs), whence its fame spread. It is now possibly the most commonly used chime for striking clocks. According to the church records of Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania), this chime sequence was incorporated into a tower clock mechanism by the E. Howard & Co., Boston, MA. The clock and chime in Trinity's steeple base was dedicated in December 1875. It holds the distinction of being the first tower clock in the United States to sound the Cambridge Quarters.

Dimensions:
Height: 29.93 in (76 cm)Width: 17.33 in (44 cm)Depth: 11.03 in (28 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Brass,Ormolu,Wood
Period:
1880-1889
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 095751stDibs: LU950619750992

Bronze

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