Important Viennese Silver and Enamel Figural Clock, Signed Karl Böhm

Description

An important Viennese silver and enamel figural clock, signed by Karl Böhm. This elaborately crafted timepiece is constructed from gilt silver and richly adorned with polychrome enamel plaques, executed using both champlevé and painted enamel techniques. The architectural case rests on four ornate scrollwork feet and rises in a tiered, temple-like formation with a domed canopy at the top. Each structural face is bordered with pierced gilt ornamentation, including masks, foliate motifs, and cabochon-style mounts. The enamel decoration covers nearly every surface, with hand-painted mythological, allegorical, and courtly scenes rendered in vivid colors and framed within chased silver-gilt borders. The central section features a circular white enamel dial with Roman numerals and black outer markers, set within a triangular pediment. The enamel panel above the dial depicts a seated Venus and Cupid surrounded by attendants, while the larger scene below shows a classical garden setting with a reclining female nude, accompanied by musicians and figures holding amphorae. Just above the dial, the central horizontal enamel band is further embellished with a mask-like face of a bearded, god-like figure integrated into the scrollwork. Surrounding these primary scenes, additional panels depict bacchic revelries, pastoral landscapes, and classical narratives, with detailed scenery and naturalistic elements. Each panel is bordered by enameled scrollwork in cobalt blue, green, red, purple, and white over gilded silver, interspersed with applied white enamel masks and foliate motifs. The body of the clock is further distinguished by a total of eight three-dimensional figural supports—four placed at the corners of the middle tier and four more at the base corners—each cast in silver and enameled in full color. These figures are modeled in Renaissance attire and depicted holding symbolic items such as scrolls, masks, cups. Their placement at each of the architectural corners contributes to the sculptural presence of the case. Above the domed canopy, two additional fully-modeled figural children are seated at either side of a lidded urn, completing the figural composition with an array of figures integrated into the overall design. The dome itself is enameled on all sides with further mythological scenes, including reclining figures and cherubs in wooded landscapes. These narrative compositions continue the classical theme of the main body. The pierced lower apron and feet are decorated with masks, lion heads, and enamel floral scrollwork, integrating silver-gilt surfaces with bright enamel highlights. Smaller horizontal enamel panels near the base illustrate a continuous frieze of classical figures in motion, including scenes of hunting, dancing, and gathering. This figural clock stands as a rare example of Viennese decorative arts of the period, combining architectural structure, narrative enamel painting, and sculptural form into a unified and highly ornamental object. Its complexity, materials, and signed movement make it a notable collector's piece, intended to serve as both a functional timekeeper and a work of art. Austria: Circa: 1880

Details

Dimensions