NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams presents The Art of Time, an auction reflecting society’s perennial fascination with time-keeping on June 7 in New York. It features exquisite and diverse timekeepers ranging from Renaissance clocks to modern wristwatches.

The sale has fine examples of the many guises timekeepers have assumed, including a very rare miniature French gilt table clock in the form of a hexagonal tower estimated at U.S. $30,000-50,000. Made in Paris by Anthoine Beauvais in 1548, it is one of the earliest surviving domestic clocks.

“Bonhams is the only international auction house to hold sales devoted to clocks. The auctions attract buyers and collectors from around the world. Our focused approach to marketing each clock means that we have achieved exceptional results for our sellers, including world record prices for 17th and 18th century clocks,” said Director of Watches and Clocks Jonathan Snellenburg.

Clocks have been among the main working tools of astronomers and were often made to represent celestial phenomena. A remarkable tidal or astronomical clock by 18th century British natural philosopher James Ferguson (estimate U.S. $20,000-30,000) is featured in the sale. The dial incorporates time and calendar wheels that show the day, date and month as well as the time of sunrise and sunset throughout the year. The central feature of the dial is a moon display that predicts high tide. This is shown in a painted miniature bird’s eye view of 1750’s London at London Bridge by a water shutter that rises and falls with the tide.

Similar moon phase calendar displays survive today in the form of the detailed modern wristwatches by renowned makers such as Patek Philippe and Breguet — fine examples from both are offered in the sale.

Made to be mechanical sculptures of sorts, “skeleton clocks” were a fascination that accompanied clock-making in the 18th and 19th century. With no case to conceal the movements, these clocks had elaborately cut frames which displayed the wheels, bells and pendulums. A rare early example (pictured) made by French horologist Jean-Antoine Lépine in the 1790’s, which goes for a month, is included in the sale and estimated at U.S. $30,000-50,000.

Precise time-keeping became something of an obsession in the 18th century. Elaborate compound pendulums were devised to compensate for the clock’s inherent errors. Boldly displayed in their cases, the pendulums reassured the owner of their clock’s precision. A fine example from the mid-19th century made by Edward John Dent of London is in the sale (estimate U.S. $18,000-22,000). He is remembered today as the maker of the iconic clock, popularly known as Big Ben, in the Palace of Westminster.

The sale also highlights rare, noteworthy examples from the important 19th century American clock and watch industry. Never widely successful, their curious forms make them a collector’s prize. Aaron Dodd Crane, the brilliant inventor from New Jersey, made clocks to run for a year on a single winding. Featured in the sale is a masterpiece — a year-going astronomical clock — whose skeletonized gilt frame displays the motions of the sun and moon (estimate U.S. $70,000-90,000). Its curious mechanism is regulated by a pendulum in the form of a carousel.