Antique
Russian bronze mantel clock by Samuel Wehl, ca 1840, with Roxolana (Hurrem
Sultan) – lovely wife of Suleiman the Great
Unique and astonishing mantel clock, made by Samuel
Wehl in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1840’s.
Movement mechanism: Japy Freres & Cie, CP MED
D’Honneur.
Movement was made by Japy
Freres & Cie and this design won the Grand Medal of Honor at the 1867 Paris
Exposition (Med D'Honneur).
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/japy-freres-cie-med-honneur-paris-470748213
Height: 17 inches = 43.5 cm
Length/Width: 14.5 inches = 37 cm;
Depth: 5 inches = 12.8 cm;
Weight: 19.4 lb. = 8.8 kg;
Provenance: private collection in Clearwater, Florida,
USA.
Condition: the pendulum and the key are missing.
A graceful figure of Roxolana, with genuine amethyst in her crown, is sitting on the top of the clock.
The
highest-grade amethyst (called "Deep Russian") is exceptionally rare
and therefore, when one is found, its value is dependent on the demand of
collectors.
One of the most fascinating figures in Ottoman history is the Ukrainian girl who rose from harem slave status to become queen of the empire and wife of the most celebrated sultan of all, Suleiman the Magnificent.
Known in Turkey as Hurrem Sultan and in Europe as Roxolana, her exact origins remain shrouded in mystery but historians generally agree that she came from rural western Ukraine, where she was born at the turn of the sixteenth century.
Many accounts give her
birthplace as the Ukrainian town of Rohatyn in Lviv Oblast, where a monument
now stands in her honor.
Hurrem Sultan (Turkish pronunciation: [hyɾˈɾæm suɫˈtan], Ottoman Turkish: خُرّم سلطان, romanized: Ḫurrem
Sulṭān, Modern Turkish: Hürrem Sultan; c. 1502 – 15 April 1558), also known
as Roxelana (Ukrainian: Роксолана; lit. 'the Ruthenian one'), was the chief consort and wife of the Ottoman
sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent. She became
one of most powerful and influential women in Ottoman history as well as a prominent and controversial figure
during the era known as the Sultanate of Women.
Born in Ruthenia (then an eastern region of the Kingdom of Poland, now Ukraine) to a Ruthenian Orthodox priest, Hurrem was captured by Tatars during a slave raid and eventually taken to Istanbul, the Ottoman capital.
She entered the Imperial Harem, rose through the ranks and became the favourite of Sultan Suleiman. Breaking Ottoman tradition, he married Hurrem, making her his legal wife; sultans had previously married only foreign free noble ladies. She was the first imperial consort to receive the title Haseki Sultan.
Hurrem
remained in the sultan's court for the rest of her life, having six children
with him, including the future sultan, Selim II. She was the grandmother of Murad III.
Hurrem eventually achieved power, influencing the politics of the Ottoman Empire.
Through her husband, she played an active role in
affairs of the state. She probably acted as the sultan's advisor, wrote
diplomatic letters to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (r. 1548–1572) and patronized major
public works (including the Haseki Sultan Complex and the Hurrem
Sultan Bathhouse). She
died in 1558
Auction results
$60,000
The total price of mantel clock comprised the work of the
different people involved in its manufacturing process:
·
About 10% for the
model design.
·
Casting, 20%.
·
Chiseling, 30%.
·
Gilding, 30%.
·
The movement only
represented between 5 and 10%.
This meant that about 90% of the production costs were the
sculpture and the case making.