Musical Clock with Pipe Organ and Dulcimer

This movement and mechanical music by Peter Kinzing is a masterpiece of musical clockwork art: a complex movement of Kinzing’s own design. The combination of pipe organ and dulcimer is a charming “mini-orchestra” which is a source of delight. The tuning of the organ to the dulcimer was a particularly difficult skill but the music produced is like no other. It is very rare to find four complete musical pinned cylinders intact and in such fine condition. We know that Marie Antoinette and the French Royal court had great influence in the development of these rare clocks, including the music chosen. The numbering of the four cylinders, Partie 1 to Partie 4 may indicate that the music was specifically chosen by the clock’s first owner.

After Mozart heard the extraordinary mechanical music of these compound clocks, he began composing music specifically for pinned barrels, and encouraged other composers to do so as well.

Peter Kinzing (born 1745) came from a family of clock and musical instrument makers, who worked in Neuwied from 1741 through 1838. He was renowned for his compound clocks - usually a combination of pipe organ and dulcimer – the signature products of Neuwied. Kinzing was a maker of incomparable skill, also known for his astronomical clocks as well as his musical clocks, which often included harp or carillon.

David Roentgen (1745–1807) was the most renowned cabinetmaker from Neuwied, with a long list of international clients including Catherine the Great, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and Frederick the Great. He was the most desired furniture maker in Europe at the height of his career, easily breaking through his Parisian competition, supplying magnificent furniture to the European courts.

The celebrated partnership of Kinzing and Roentgen created unique products with the most advanced clock and musical technology of its day. Their most famous creation is the automaton dulcimer player made for Marie-Antoinette, currently at the Musée des arts et métiers de Paris.

Neuwied, located on the Rhine River south of Cologne, was an important center of clock and furniture making in the late 18th century.

The majestic mahogany case has the finest fire-gilt decoration of this period. Intricate details abound on flowing swags, playful classical imagery, lyres, eagles, charging chariots. A giltwood bust of Socrates is on the top, supported by a base with imposing ormolu eagle-shaped mounts. An architectural pediment contains a richly detailed Medusa mask, with an ormolu frieze of classical imagery of frolicking putti, flanked by elegant eagles. The dial is crowned with swags and ribbons; with an extraordinary fire-gilt crucifix minute hand, fire-gilt serpent hour hand, and center seconds. A mask of the Holy Roman Emperor of the period, Joseph II is on the trunk.