.jpg "Restoration of a console clock — Hart Amsterdammuseum")
‘It is not enough that one has bought a good watch, one must also know how to operate it, to set it up, and not to forget to have it cleaned from time to time…’ This quote comes from a book published in 1790 ( and later translated into Dutch) by the French clockmaker Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807). In the collection of Huis Willet-Holthuysen there is a console clock made by this clockmaker and we have taken his advice to heart. In recent months, the movement has been completely disassembled, cleaned and restored by restorer Bart van de Werff. What is special about this clock is that it not only indicates the time, but that a different melody can be heard every hour.
The name of this wall clock can be traced back to the carrier, the console, on which the timepiece rests against a wall. The watch was made around 1775 in Paris. Berthoud then worked in Paris for the French king, among others. Striking about the richly decorated clock are the golden stars and the bronze fittings consisting of garlands, a satyr head and a classic vase with which the whole is crowned.
When the couple Willet-Holthuysen refurnished their house in the period 1865-1870, they were mainly inspired by the French interior styles of the 18th century. For this, Louisa and Abraham bought objects from that period, but they also asked contemporary artists to base themselves on the fashion of a century earlier. For example, in the hallway, where the console clock hangs, you can see a number of panels made by the artist Paul Alfred Colin (1853-1916), who was inspired by French 18th-century painting. The entire hallway in the house exudes an 18th-century atmosphere, with the restored clock now playing a new leading role. You can unmistakably hear the passage of time, and a French melody can be heard every hour: this literally and figuratively places you as a visitor back in time: a true time machine.