Description
The Hönes 8228/3 cuckoo clock plays on two tones of wood, between light panels and dark frames, for a decoration that is at once understated and full of relief. Hand-carved in Titisee-Neustadt, it runs for eight days between two windings.
Eight days between two windings
At the heart of the piece, a Regula-type mechanical 8-day movement ensures a week of running time. The two cast-iron pine cone-shaped weights are wound by pulling on the chains.
The cuckoo calls once on the half hour, then counts the hours on the hour. A simple lever is enough to switch off the chime in the evening and to restart it in the morning. Made by Hönes, it comes with its VdS certificate of authenticity.
A decoration inherited from the first little houses
The carved grid alternates light wood and dark wood, while leaves dress the corners of the roof. In the centre, the round dial shows its Roman numerals beneath the cuckoo door.
This little-house shape goes back to the Bahnhäusle, the railway gatekeeper's house designed around 1850 for the Baden railways. Its look inspired the first house-shaped cuckoo clocks, from which the decorations of leaves and vines still descend today.
Another decoration inherited from this carved tradition, foliage in which three birds nest.
