Louis XV Musical Contra-Boulle Clock with Bracket

Circa 1750, waisted case veneered with brass inlaid with stained shell, surmounted by a rococo urn and applied with leaf and shell mounts throughout, with a conforming wall bracket. Brass dial with 25 porcelain cartouches, signed STRAUBHAR A STRASBOURG (Johann Jakob Straubhaar, active 1721-1750) 3 train musical with nest of 8 bells chiming on quarter hours and playing one of 7 tunes on the hour. Clock trains with going barrels, music on fusee movement wound on right of clock. Hour strikes on large bell at top of clock.

Catalog Note: H.L. Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris 1974; p. 600 (bio. on J.J. Straubhaar).