Large Baroque carriage clock – Joseph Spiegel

Germany, Friedberg, Joseph Spiegel (Joseph Miroir), circa 1740. Large double-cased traveling striking clock with date display and alarm. The outer silver case is decorated with pierced circular openings, studs, and covered with dark brown snakeskin. The inner silver case is engraved and richly pierced with foliate scroll ornament. Verge movement with circular plates and four turned pillars; mainspring with fusee and compensating chain. The rear of the lower plate and the balance cock are richly relief-decorated and engraved. The movement is signed Jos. Miroir Paris. Quarter-repeating striking mechanism striking on a bell housed in the rear of the case. Enamel dial with Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minutes; digital date aperture above XII; centrally placed small silver subsidiary dial for setting the alarm. Original richly pierced steel hands. Total weight 1,210 g. Overall dimensions 15 × 12 × 8 cm.

The clockmaker Joseph Spiegel never signed his clocks with the owner’s name. He marked his works using his surname spelled backwards, “Legeips,” or with its French translation, “Miroir.” Carriage clocks by Joseph Spiegel are represented in renowned private and museum collections worldwide. Clocks of comparable quality can be found, for example, in the British Museum in London.