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SLR.36
Lacquered grandfather clock
Late Italian Renaissance, painted by hand like a picture. Inside, a large Kieninger movement with three chimes and four dancers that come out of the dial every quarter hour.
A clock that is yours alone. Wood, finish, colour and melody: we start from this model and finish it together, the way you want it.
- Dimensions
- Height 216 cm · width 61 cm · depth 38 cm
- Wood
- Solid American tulipwood; flat parts in MDF veneered with Tanganyika; carved parts in French lime wood; door fretwork in Italian walnut; back in veneered, stabilised MDF
- Finish
- Water-based paint with matt nitro top coat; light ivory lacquer painted in watercolour, in soft colours, by Lara Finotti
- Movement
- German Kieninger mechanical movement in brass, large and mirror-polished; cable-driven; weekly crank winding in the 3 dial holes; switchable night silencer from 10 pm to 7:15 am
- Chime
- Three chimes on 8 notes every quarter hour, Westminster, Whittington and St Michael, plus the hour strike; switchable automatic change of chime every hour; long brass-plated bells
- Dial
- Monochrome black with the major German monuments; large applied numerals; at the top, four painted dancers that turn and come out every quarter hour
- Pendulum
- Brass lyre pendulum and decorated weights by Jaeckle
- Other
- Two carved statues and a mask; four half columns; hand-bevelled glass, including the oval of the upper door and the sides; upper door on a metric hinge; door with lock; the upper part slides forward like a drawer; the 4 carved feet unscrew so the clock can stand on the floor
How it is made
The style is late Italian Renaissance: four raised feet, fluting on the flat parts, four half columns and carved cornices. The case is solid American tulipwood, with the flat parts in MDF veneered with Tanganyika and the carved parts in French lime wood. Carlo roughs out the two side statues and the mask at the bottom, then Franco carves them by hand, together with the details along the cornices. The fretwork decorations on the door are cut in Italian walnut by Mrs Angelica.
There are hand carvings even inside the back, because this model originally had no door: we added it, with a lock, for safety. The glass is bevelled by hand all round by Giovanni Casella, including the oval of the upper door and the sides. Stefano finishes the case in water-based paint, in light ivory with a matt nitro top coat. Over it, Lara Finotti paints in watercolour, in soft colours, the skin, the eyes, the beards and the flowers, as in a painting by Giotto. Then we put the clock together piece by piece, over fifteen days of assembly in which we test every accessory.
The Kieninger movement is large and mirror-polished, made for an important case like this one. Every quarter hour it plays one of three chimes on eight notes, Westminster, Whittington and St Michael, and strikes the hours; if you switch it on, it changes chime by itself every hour. Meanwhile the four painted dancers at the top of the dial turn round and move in and out, as on Marienplatz in Munich. It is driven by cables rather than chains, so the pendulum disc always swings free, and it is wound once a week with the crank in the three dial holes. The upper part slides forward like a drawer and leaves the movement within easy reach.
