A Swiss gilt-bronze“night" clock, Bern, circa 1750, on a gilt-bronze mounted satin wood and kingwood veneered stand, attributed to Daniel Beat Ludwig Fonck (1726-1787)

Related literature

H. von Fischer, Fonck a Berne, Berne, 2001

P. Kjellberg, La pendule française, Paris, 1997, p.152 fig. A

Tardy, La pendule Française, Paris, 1949, tome III, p. 822, fig. 1

The night clock allows you to read the time at night, with the openwork numbers illuminated by a candle placed at the back of the case. This unusual type of clock is found mainly in Switzerland. A model similar to ours is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, La pendule française, Paris, 1997, p. 152, fig. A and another in the same style is shown in Tardy, La pendule Française, Paris, 1949, vol. III, p. 822, fig. 1.

Other night-light clocks have also been offered at auction, such as a clock also attributed to Daniel Beat Ludwig Fonck, Christie's London, 16 October 2012, lot 60, and one signed by Fonck, Mobel auction, Bern, 17 June 2017, lot 1248.

However, our clock is unusual in that it rests on a satin and kingwood base with gilt-bronze mounts, and it appears to be the only model of its kind known to date.

Daniel Beat Ludwig Fonck (1726–1787)

Originally from Bern, the Fonck family crafted luxury items, furniture, clocks and mirrors, made by various members of the family, including a sculptor, silk weavers, frame gilders and Daniel Beat Ludwig, a watchmaker. In the family workshop, Daniel made wall clocks, pocket watches and Rococo-style grandfather clocks. He sometimes signed his pieces ‘Funk Fils à Berne’ and, at the end of his career, he manufactured highly complex movements for inanimate images, known as ‘moving pictures’.