An Ebonized Wood and Brass Mounted 'Shield-Form' Mantel Clock, Lorenz Furtwangler & Sonne, Germany, Circa 1900

Skinner, Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts, Discovery Auction, October 11 & 12, 2012, sale 2616M, lot 841.

The firm had began in 1836 when Lorenz Furtwangler ( 1807 - 66 ) established his own workshop. Lorenz had four sons who took over the business at his death and renamed it ' L Furtwangler's Sons' clock Factory ' in 1868. The factory developed and was provided with water and steam power, and it obtained a reputation for very solid movements with high quality finish. Mantel clocks, wall clocks, and longcase clocks were made. The trademark of the letters LFS inside a wheel was registered in 1881 and 1895. In 1900 the firm was incorporated as ' L Furtwangler Sohne AG 'and four year later as ' Uhrenfabrik vormals L. Furtwangler Sohne Furtwangen. ..... The firm even produced cuckoo clocks but the main product was movements of high quality, which could not compete during the 1920s and so the firm, even though it had broadened its programme to include business machines unfortunately ended operation in 1929. E J Tyler, "The Furtwangen factory," Clocks, September 1987.