A rare German four-chamber sand glass interval timer Unsigned, probably Augsburg, early 17th century The four waisted glass chambers filled with white sand and with brass wire bound bulbous reinforcements to the narrow centre sections, contained in a long lozenge-shaped brass cage with twist uprights uniting collars with fretwork margins and alternating scallop shell and mask repousse decoration, the hinged top panel secured with pivoted hook clasps and decorated with stamped rosette border around crucifix surmounted orb motifs to centre, the rear with central brass plate upright pierced for hanging on the wall or a stand, 17cm (6.25ins) high. Provenance: The beneficiaries of the Estate of an Italian connoisseur collector of horological artefacts and works of art. The current lot can be directly compared with an almost identical example (retaining its original wrought iron stand) illustrated in Cardinal, Catherine and Vingtain, Dominique TRESORS d'HORLOGERIE, Exposition du 30 mai au 27 septembre 1998 au Palais des Papes, Avignon on page 40 (exhibit 12). Four-chamber sand glasses were devised to allow the quarters to be counted over the period of one hour - with the first chamber emptying in fifteen minutes, the second in thirty minutes and so forth. It is generally thought that such timers were developed primarily for use in churches to time the length of sermons.