BRACKET MANTLE CLOCK. 18 TH CENTURY PETER KROESE

Bracket clock with lunar dial and mahogany case. Amsterdam, 18th century. Johannes Pieter Kroese (1702-1778). In working order. The clock features a striking mechanism for half-hours and on the hour, an alarm, and music. The rectangular base is decorated at the corners with gilt bronze appliqués of vegetal motifs topped by grotesques with female busts. Pinecones and a pearl adorn the upper portion, which is raised towards the center and has softened lines. The dial, protected by a front door, displays Roman numerals, with lines and Arabic numerals every five minutes. It also has a rectangular opening for the day and is surrounded by vegetal elements reminiscent of rocaille. In the two corners are a dial for the alarm and another for various chimes. At the top, a half-sphere, encircled by a metal band engraved with the signature, displays the phases of the moon using a starry sky disc with a painted human face on the moon. The pendulum-driven movement is engraved on the exterior with plant motifs, as can be seen on the back of the case, which also features a small door with a glass panel. The style is typical of 17th-century Northern European clocks, developed primarily in England and used to highlight the quality of the clock's movement, in contrast to French examples, which focused more on the aesthetic appearance of the exterior. Thus, in comparison, the case is much simpler than in French clocks, but the movement was far more precise, and the technical intricacies found in examples like this (music box, calendar, chimes, alarm, etc.) were more common than in French examples. Johannes Pieter Kroese was a master clockmaker from Wuppertal (Kruse) who worked in Amsterdam from around 1729 in his workshop, where his son, Pieter Kroese, also worked, succeeding him in 1775. Above all, he was renowned for his astrological clocks, some more complex (with zodiac) and others simpler, like the one shown here. Astronomical examples by this master are found only in important private collections, in the hands of his descendants, or in prominent institutions such as the Dutch National Clock Museum in Zaandam, for example.

· Size: 33x19x55 cms.