ANTIQUE CLOCKS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 455, 10 April 1912, Page 3

ANTIQUE CLOCKS.

Some interesting particulars con:erning antique clocks are contributed .o the September '"Connoisseur" by Mr. George Cecil. England and the Continent are, it seems, rich in those reasures, among them being the :uriously complicated clock at Lyons Cathedral, the Strasburg clock, the saac Harbrecht clock on view at the British Museum, those at the church it St Mary and the Dome church at jUbeck, and the wonderful seven-.eenth-century clock in the Grand Piazza, Venice. The Lyons clock was constructed in 1598, and was the cork of Nicholas Lippius, of Basle, ind Nourison, a local clockmaker ; it joasts seven figures, each of which appears in a niche once a week. THE STRASBURG AND VENICE CLOCKS.

Perhaps the Strasburg clock is the nost wonderful of all ; more than ■.wenty feet in height, it was made jy the Brothers Harbrecht. It shows learly fifty constellations of stars ; .he sun and moon traverse its globe; i plan of the city of Strasburg, and :he seven pagan deities —with a number of other allegorical figures and mimals —also are shown. The Venice lock (which was put up about three Kindred years ago) has also as many movements as the Strasburg one ; a nige bell surmounts the structure, ind every hour two bronze figures ire made to strike it. At one time is each hour sounded a door would Dpen to allow a n angel with a trum>et to make its appearance ; this igurc was followed by three Oriental iungs, who disappeared through another door, after bowing to the Virgin. SOME OTHER CLOCKS.

A famous clock which took ocr :hirty years to build, and which was ixhabited at the Great Exhibition of .851, is Lovelace's Exeter clock,; beow the works is a cabinet which, when opened, displays a miniature jelfry with ringers, and the background is painted to represent a number of old buildings in Exeter. In;eresting examples in private collections include Mr. John Coates's long:ase clock, from Yorkshire ; Mr. W. Vithall's two bracket clocks ; and tfr. Archibald Ramsden's long-case :lock—-in a fine inlay pattern with iecorative hands —by P. A. Schag oi surnberg, and a Cromwellian lanten: lock ,; whilst at the Soane Museum ire two clocks which will well repay i visit. The upper works of one of these revolve once in twelve months —requiring to be wound every two rears, and the clock is in excellent going order.