368 of 538 lots
368
A Regency Brass Inlaid Mahogany Bracket Clock
Estimate: $600-$800
Sold
$650
Live Auction
European Furniture and Decorative Arts
Description
A Regency Brass Inlaid Mahogany Bracket Clock Circa 1820 Height 15 x width 9 x depth 5 3/8 inches.
Condition
The movement is not signed. There is a severe age crack in the top of the case and several minor veneer cracks in the sides and front of the case. Some of the brass inlay is partially lifting. The dial has some scratches and an enamel chip at one edge. The movement winds and appears to run but has not been reviewed by an horologist. It is not a striking movement. The back door does not come with a key and has some glue residue where tape held it closed. There is a pendulum and a winding key.
Provenance
Maestro Raymond Leppard (1927-2019), Commander of the British Empire, was an internationally recognized composer, conductor and scholar of Baroque music, as well as a Grammy-winning recording artist. Born in London, Leppard grew up in Bath where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys’ School, now the Beechen Cliff School. He studied harpsichord and viola at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he would go on to become Lecturer and Fellow before making his debut at Wigmore Hall in London in 1952. He also helped establish and was long associated with the English Chamber Orchestra.
 
Leppard’s realizations of 17th century operas by Italian composers Claudio Monteverde and his disciple, Francesco Cavalli, re-introduced the world to these and other Baroque operas. His brilliant arrangements for their modern stage productions in the 1960s and 1970s were widely acclaimed and, thus, forged his imprint on the classical music industry. He conducted Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the world premiere of Nicholas Maw’s Rising of the Moon at Glyndebourne Opera, and composed film scores for, among others, Peter Brook’s Lord of the Flies, based on the novel by William Golding. As a prolific recording artist, Leppard recorded more than 200 albums. He has appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas, and in Paris, Hamburg, Santa Fe, Stockholm and Geneva. Leppard was principal conductor for the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra for over seven years, and, more recently, led the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) from 1987 to 2001. Leppard is credited with transforming the ISO into an internationally recognized ensemble, becoming the organization’s first and only Conductor Laureate.
 
Beyond Leppard’s musical genius, his warm character, generous heart and good humor endeared him to the likes of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Benjamin Britten, Frederica Von Stade, Dame Janet Baker and members of the infamous Bloomsbury Group. WFMT, Chicago’s classical music radio station, dedicated every August 11, his birthday, as Raymond Leppard Day, on which they broadcast several of his recordings. Leppard amassed an eclectic collection of works of art, music and 18th and 19th century furniture, many of which are featured throughout this auction.