Lot 274. A Renaissance gilt-copper turmchenuhr with automaton and alarm, possibly Joseph Motte, Augsburg, circa 1630 and later. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

1¾-inch dial with silvered chapter ring engraved for twelve and twenty-four hours, central gilt alarm disc, the fusee and chain movement with later conversion to verge escapement and pendulum, going train re-trained, the striking train with lipped barrel and iron wheelwork, locking plate striking on a bell and driving the automaton, alarm train acting on the bell and signed on the alarm plate with the Augsburg pineapple and indistinct makers stamp IMI in a shield, the case with domed top and finial above a revolving automaton scene, the sides with later glazed panels, the pierced moulded plinth concealing the bell - 30cm. 11¾in. high.

Provenance: Formerly in the collection of the nobleman and industrialist Adolf Landsberger von Freideck (1840-1914), Moravia;
Thence by descent