This stunning cuckoo clock, encrusted in a sleeping-beauty thicket of finely carved foliage, is one of the first of its kind, and is by Johann Baptist Beha, the most prestigious of nineteenth century Black Forest clock makers. It’s early, a rarity, and few exist - and is known as model 509.

The numerals and hands are carved from bone, and the intricate vine decoration is all hand-carved in wood.  The roof even has a pattern of roof tiles, characteristic of the wooden roof tiles found on 19th century Alpine dwellings. 

History

Johann Baptist Beha (1815 - 1898) was a prestigious Black Forest clock maker born in Oberbrand, Eisenbach, South West Germany. After a training with his father, clockmaker Vinzenz Beha, he opened his own shop in the Black Forest in 1845, and so began the manufacture of his celebrated beautiful clocks.

He was the first to equip a Bahnhäusle style clock case with a cuckoo mechanism, which was a milestone in Black Forest cuckoo clock history, and the first to make wall and shelf cuckoo clocks with spring wound movements, such as this one.  Later – and it has to be said, more inferior - cuckoo clocks were fitted with fir-cone weights. The cases themselves for the Beha clocks were handmade and came from woodcarvers’ shops located in different towns of the Black Forest.

Johann Baptist Beha represented the typical self-educated Black Forest clockmaker of the 18th and 19th century: experimenting, inventing, and always seeking solutions with limited theoretical knowledge, to then create technical miracles beyond any comparison today. Consequently, the clocks made by the Beha company are now very much sought-after, and these collectors’ pieces are now mainly only found in museums, such as the British Museum, the Cuckoo Land Museum, and the Deutsches Uhrenmusuem, Germany.  It's not often that such a clock comes to the open market, yet Alastair now offers for sale this beautiful clock from his own personal collection of Black Forest objects from The Tudor House.

Provenance: The Tudor House, Old Town Hastings, UK

Height 44cm /  Width (of roof gable) 33.5cm / Depth 21cm - measurements taken from extreme points of carved decoration

Base width 28cm / Base depth 19.5cm

Material: wood and metal

Date of manufacture: c.1860

Country of origin: Germany

Condition: all the carving is in excellent condition, and the cuckoo is behind its hinged door ready to pop out. One of the clock hands needs a repair (the missing part is with the clock - see image), the bellows inside need a repair, and it's without its wind-up key.  The workings inside are all intact but would probably need looking at by a clock repairer to get it ticking again, and they could also supply a key.

The Christmas House

The Tudor House, Hastings, also known as The Christmas House, when it opened to visitors each December, had a place in the hearts of the many that passed through its wee front door.  It was a magical experience, and was likened to stepping into a Brothers Grimm fairytale.  The house is now sold and has passed into memory, yet its magical contents are not quite gone, as Alastair has saved the best for last - for our extra-special Christmas House Contents Sale.

The eclectic mix of primitive Eastern European furniture, English country furniture, folk-art and Black Forest antiques chosen for the house were honest and humble, yet always remarkable, and put together with a sense of theatre - to achieve a more contemporary take on the past.  “It’s all about a careful mix, a telling of a story, and I hope others will find pleasure in the treasures I’ve collected and curated” says Alastair.  “Select pieces that create surprise, that transform your space beyond reality!” This fabulous cuckoo clock would make a great centre piece, and is like something straight out of a fairytale itself.

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Price does not  include delivery.
Delivery/collection must be purchased/organised separate to product purchase.
Please contact us to request a delivery estimate, if required.