A German Gothic Revival architectural clock
Palisander, ebonised wood, brass mountings, copper, coloured laquer (possibly stained mother-of-pearl) on wooden corpus. Day-running pendulum movement with thread suspension, quarter hourly striking to a spiral gong and repetition. Neo-Gothic facade with silhouetted turrets, vertical veneer inlaid with tracery in brass and two jousting figures below. Engraved to right base side "Fortner Kunst Schreiner in München 1842". The silver plating of the dial renewed. H 60.5, W 30.5, D 14.3 cm.
Munich, Franz Xaver Fortner (1798 - 1877), 1842.
Georg Himmelheber describes Franz Xaver Fortner as one of "the most importat ebenists of his era in southern Germany". He began to receive courtly commissions shortly after founding his studio in 1826 and by 1842 he already employed 42 journeymen. Fortner specialised in marquetry in unusual materials in historical revival styles. His works were sought-after internationally, from France to St. Petersburg, and his most important commission the interior of the former ruins of Hohenschwangau Castle, the reconstruction of which was carried out by appointment of Crown Prince Maximilian from 1833 - 36.
Literature
For more on this cabinetmaker cf.: Himmelheber, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, vol. 3, Munich 1973, p. 126 ff.