Ref.11656
Large 19th century bracket clock featuring Hermes and his caduceus

This large bracket clock, made at the end of the 19th century, is made out of richly carved oak wood. Its decoration features Hermes' head and a caduceus in the upper part, a horn of abundance on either side and a shell in the lower part. The dial, with Roman numbers, is in embossed work brass. The Latin word caduceus comes from the Greek kêrukeion which is the "badge of herald" or "stick of the herald". The herald is an officer carrying messages, an annunciator. To reward him for having offered him his lyre and for having made him his syrinx (flute of Pan), Apollon gave to Hermes the caduceus, a gold wand so that he was the messenger of the Gods. As he traveled the slopes of Mount Cithéron, the young god Hermes (Mercury) saw two serpents fighting each other. He threw the caduceus he had received from Apollo to separate them. The snakes then wrapped around this stick, stopped fighting, and stopped facing each other. The caduceus is also called "stick of Arcadia" because it is in Arcadia that Hermes separated the two serpents who fought each other.

Ref.4766
Musgrave & Co mannheim - Enameled cast iron stove adorned with views of important buildings in the Palatinate, Germany, circa 1900

This original Art Nouveau style enameled cast iron stove is a German work of the company Musgrave & Co dating from the beginning of the 20th century. Product of the industrial revolution, Musgrave & Co. was an Irish company making stoves located in Belfast. Founded in the mid 1840’s as a hardware merchant, it quickly develops a patent on the stove with slow combustion adapted to barns. In 1899, the brand was became widely known and a second factory was built in Mannheim, in Germany, with added exhibition rooms in Paris and Frankfort. Not only has settled and furnished the heat system for the Impress Frederic of Germany’s stables, but also for the King of Spain, and many British lords. Germany had a particularly enthusiast clientele for the very decorative stoves models as ours, it was also the only country in which they were sold. The decoration of our stove pays tribute to the Palatinate region as indicates the inscription «  Fröhlich Pfalz Gott erhalt's » literally meaning Happy Palatinate God saves it, through representation of emblematic monuments of the region. Indeed, we can recognize on the main side, the Speyer Cathedral, built in 1030 by Conrad II (v.990-1039) today registered in the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Also, it is the biggest Roman cathedral of the world. On the right side, is depicted the Godesburg castle, built in the 13th century on a volcanic hill and partially destroyed after the 1583 siege in the beginning of the Cologne War. Finally, we can see on the left side the Tower of Andernach, defensive tower built between 1440 and 1453.