Clock in the shape of a truncated column

• France, around 1770, signed: “Ferdinand Berthoud” on the dial, fire-gilt bronze, height: 36 cm

Duke Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1717-1785) loved art and was also interested in the latest scientific findings. He furnished his residence with public clocks and invented an “artificial water clock” that operated on the waterfall in front of the palace. He also ordered numerous clocks for his palace such as the fire-gilt bronze clock, whose casing most probably came from the famous workshop of Robert and Jean-Baptiste Osmond in Paris.

The clock mechanism was produced by one of the most distinguished clock makers of the 18^th century, the court clock maker Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807) who also worked in Paris.
The extent to which Duke Frederick considered himself to be a friend of mechanical art is evident in a portrait by Georg David Matthieu from 1772, which shows the Duke together with the clock and technical construction plans.