Empire Mechanical Organ Secrétaire

The court clockmaker Christian Ernst Kleemeyer (1766 – 1812) was together with Möllinger the most important Berlin maker of clocks and mechanical instruments, his dates of birth and death are not known, but it is proved by the archives, that he became old master in 1790; and from 1800 onwards he owned a workshop with twelve employees and in 1812 he supplied several clocks to Sansscouci Palace in Potsdam.

This secrétaire is designed in a rigidly architectonic style. The panel in the midsection lowers as a leather-lined writing surface, revealing a fitted interior with drawers and pigeonholes veneered in mahogany, ebonised details and different naturally colored woods. Concealed above the fall front is a reading stand. The upper part with an eight-day-going pendule clock movement, striking the half- and full hours. The enamel dial signed: C.E. Kleemeyer A Berlin. An elaborate, pierced balustrade. The gilt-bronze elements are of very high quality and are standing in the tradition of the renowned Berlin manufacture of Werner & Mieth.

The lower part of the secrétaire is housing the large mechanical movement. The side panels and the lower back of the secrétaire are inset with silk and linnen panels to allow the sound to be heard.

Although rather simple in appearance, this mechanical organ clock was produced by one of the most accomplished makers in Berlin. The weight-driven clockwork mechanism is allied to an organ with 92 pipes in three ranks. The music is pinned in spiral motion onto unusually large wooden cylinders (diameter 25,6 cm, 10 in., length: 74,3 cm, 29 ¼ in.). The mechanism is activated by pulling one of the small drawers at the inside of the the secrétaire.

The repertoire of the eight labeled barrels is a rare sound document for the music history, reflecting the favorite pieces of music by the most celebrated composers (such as Mozart, Paer, Hoffmeister, Haydn, Lefèvre), as well as the listening habits of the time.

The organ mechanism is in very fine state, the barrels, in particular being entirely undisturbed. The mechanism, bellows and pipes have recently been carefully restored.