Hello Vitaliy,
Thank you for sending in this clock to mearto.com for appraisal. I will try to help you with this today.
TITLE
Dore bronze and tortoiseshell veneer, spring driven, time and strike, mantel cartel clock in the style of Louis XVth, case made in Italy but unsigned, movement made by Franz Hermle & Sons, Gosheim, Germany, circa 1980s.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE: (Size not provided) Cast architectural (cathedral) type mantel clock made of surmounted by a Dore bronze fenestrated foliate designed finial rests on a tortoiseshell veneered pediment outlined in dore bronze with gilt egg-and-dart ornamentation at the edges. The facade of the pediment has a male ormolu mask head. The waisted main case is covered in red, black and gold veneering with dore bronze snail like decoration at the case corners along with gilt foliage while centering the shaped glazed dial door over the ornate dial above and a gilt shell shaped ornament below with a central rosette in dore bronze as well. The sides of the case are fully covered in the red, black and gold veneering with gilt painted panels of foliage. The base widens out near the bottom with large Dore bronze 'C' scrolls and leafy vines embellishing the bottom edge of the case which has a floral design at the center of the base and the entire case resting on well curled acanthus leaf feet. . . .
Dial: A round hammered bronzed dial with bold Roman hours in shield shaped cartouche form, the Dore bronze dial center carrying a plethora of foliate forms, two winding apertures for the springs and stamped skeletonized machine made Chippendale-style hands. The dial is unsigned. . . .
Movement: Rectilinear shaped solid brass plates with punctate markings on the rear plate, 15cm in size and the style of movement being the Hermle 151-080, part of the 151 series (still available online today). There are tubular pillars holding the plates together most likely with screws on the front plate, the logo of the clock company, The Franz Hermle & Sons Company is seen in the lower right (history below). There is a pendulum suspension that is in the form of an arch cutout of brass just above where the brass crutch emerges from the movement. The rounded form of pendulum suspension was always a Germanic indication. The movement is powered by two steel barrel springs, of eight to fourteen day duration and striking the hours and half hours on a series of two bells placed above the movement struck with two hammers. There are two sets of numbers in the lower leeft side of the rear plate, one for the pendulum length and the other for movement size. . . . .
Condition: The clock is in very good condition and is now about four decade old. It is wearing nicely and beginning to show signs of age. The dial is quite good and the movement is original to this case. When the Italian Furniture Company (Lancini/Farbel/Imperial) originally made these replica 18th century French cartel mantel clocks these copied the tortoiseshell colors from the original true tortoiseshell designs of the early masters in France, and produced a fine, but more inexpensively made clock. The original examples from the 1960's and 70s carried one of the brand names on the dial. This example does not, but it is from one of their factories. (Unfortunately during the circa 2010 era such cases started to appear with 19th century signed French movements and that has led to a drop in price for most of these types of reproductions, despite the fact that yours is an honest example. Very nice replica but not yet vintage nor antique.
HISTORICAL:
1) - HERMLE
The Hermle clock factory was at Gosheim in the Black Forest region of Germany was founded by Franz in 1922 as a supplier and subcontractor for the Kienzle clock company of Schwenningen. Franz died in 1935, but had been joined by his son Gebhard in 1929. The factory was demolished during WWll but by 1951 Gebhard and a loyal staff had it up and running once again. He died in 1976, but the firm was then run by Hans and Heinrich Hermle, with 450 employees, and still one of the major suppliers of movements to the world up to today.
2) - ITALIAN CLOCKS-MODERN:
The names of Farbel, Imperial and Lancini are all interconnected in the manufacturing of fine reproductions of 18th century French furniture and clocks. It is very likely that they are all names used by the same individuals for their furniture companies in making late 20th century reproductions of early French furniture and clocks.
FARBEL is one of the most important manufacturing Italian firms in the foundry sector. Brass, bronze, aluminum, copper, steel, are raw material that every day are used directly inside their factory. The technology allows them to manufacture small or large quantities.
FARBEL was begun in 1966 with exporting and their products worldwide. FARBEL's founder is Giuseppe Belotti. Belotti sought perfection, quality, esteem, capturing the sumptuous qualities in the history of the European decorative arts.
Originally he stated, "Made in Italy" is our guarantee. I believe Farbel used the name Imperial on their clocks.
Lancini signed Italian made clocks during the 1980’s. I am fairly certain that these were connected to the Farbel foundries and the Imperial name as well.
It was my pleasure to be of service to you today.
My fair market appraisal is based on actual recent past comparable sales recorded at auctions of similar Italian replicas of mid -18th century French mantel clocks The fair market value would range from $350-$450 at auction today. Retail "asking prices" can, of course, be significantly higher and vary.
Best regards,
David