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 c.1835 English Ebonized Bracket Clock with Brass Inlay, Williamson, London.

A very high quality Regency chamfered top ebonized bracket clock with extensive brass inlay that is signed by the maker ‘Williamson, Royal Exchange, London’. The ebonized case has finely executed floral inlay to the bottom panel and border inlay to the door, base and chamfered top. It has glazed sides and brass mounts including cornucopia handles, a brass molding, a pineapple finial and four bold two-piece gadrooned feet.
The silvered engraved dial has engraved floral spandrels, Roman-numerals, nicely cut steel hands and is signed by the maker ‘Williamson, Royal Exchange, London.’ The substantial eight-day double-fusee movement strikes on a bell, has particularly thick shaped plates with 5 turned pillars, a heavy high-grade pendulum with the bob suspended from the center and is signed on the backplate ‘Williamson, Royal Exchange, London’.
Christopher Williamson is listed in Britten’s 1821-47. In 1821 he was granted his Freedom from the Clockmakers Company through ‘Freedom by Redemption’. Clock makers who came to London from the provinces or from abroad or had served their apprenticeships in another company had to provide proof of their accomplishments. They then were not full Freeman and could not sign their work until they had paid a fee to the Clockmakers Company. Only then after paying the fee and being Freed by Redemption were they allowed to carry on with all the privileges associated with full membership.
Height - 16.75in.
SOLD

c.1790 English Mahogany Quarter-Repeat Bracket Clock, John Day, Wakefield.

A very nice English Georgian mahogany quarter-repeat belltop bracket clock by John Day of Wakefield. The well-figured and colored mahogany case has pad feet, glazed sides and brass urn form finials, handle and spandrels. The silvered engraved broken arch dial is signed by the maker, ‘John Day, Wakefield’, has nicely shaped steel-cut hands, Roman numerals for the hours, a segmented minute chapter with Arabic five-minute marks, a strike/silent chapter and a 31-day calendar.
The eight-day, twin fussee movement has five turned pillars, a crown escapement, an engraved backplate and matching engraved brackets. The spring loaded pull repeat counts the quarters and repeats the last hour when the string is pulled. The pinned barrel runs ‘front to back’ and plays a six-note scale by striking six hammers against six bells to count each quarter.
The whole is in restored condition and would make a nice addition to any collection.
John Day is listed as working in Wakefield, about 9 miles south of Leeds, until 1801.
Height 22in
SOLD

c. 1810 Ormolu and Green Patinated Mantel Clock, Angevin a Paris.

A good quality Empire ormolu, green patinated and marble mantel clock. It depicts Cupid thoughtfully examining an arrow while seated on the clock with his foot upon his quiver. The whole is supported by a green patinated stepped base with ormolu mounts upon a green figured marble base with unusually oblong bun feet. The white, nicely lettered porcelain dial is signed Angevin, Paris. The eight-day two-train movement strikes on a bell and retains its original silk thread suspension. Height 17 ½in.

For a similar model see Vergolten Bronzen, pg. 350.
SOLD

c.1900 Silver Cased Subminiature Carriage Timepiece with Enamel Panels, Steinmeyer, Geneve.

An exceptional silver sub-miniature corniche cased carriage clock with outstanding enamel panels on three sides. The silver case with twisted columns and a cast handle is stamped on the base ‘12516, Silver and 0.935’ and is engraved on the top AD 18.1.1900. The three well-modeled colorful enamel panels are all of differing scenes related to courtship.
The white porcelain dial has blue Arabic numbers with the exception of the red number 12, gold dots as a minute chapter and finely cast scrolled hands. The three-quarter eight-day time only movement retains its original lever balance platform and is also stamped ‘Steinmeyer, 12516.’ This clock, including the enamel panels, is in excellent condition. Included is the original hand-tooled leather case.
Height w/out handle - 2 1/8 in.
Height with handle - 2 5/8 in.
SOLD
c.1745 Silver-Gilt, Gilt-Wood, and Painted Grand Sonnerie Mantel Clock with Swinging Jester and Universal Dial, Joseph Graff, Prague.

An extremely rare mid-eighteenth century carved mantel clock with a universal dial, an animated pendulum and grande sonnerie striking with repeat. The gilt, silver-gilt and painted rococo case has polychrome panels within curvilinear borders and carved foliage. It is surmounted by a gilt eagle with a long garland in its beak and stands on four silver-gilt scaled serpents. The silvered engraved universal dial is divided into twenty-four time zones with each segment engraved with either a city or general area located in that particular zone. Most of the names have been translated, but a few are still mysteries. The center section carries the hour hand, has a silvered engraved twenty-four hour chapter, is painted in the center to represent night and day and is used to calculate the time in other parts of the world. The hour and minute hands are both cut steel with the hour in the shape of the sun. There is a red arrow at two-thirty which is believed to be where the zero meridian was placed. This practice was common before the zero meridian was permantely located on the Greenwich meridian. The twin-barrel eight-day movement has a crown wheel escapement, strikes and repeats grand sonnerie on two bells and has the initials I.G., Joseph Graff, stamped on the front plate. The pendulum, a gilt, silver-gilt and painted jester on a thin wire, which represents the swing, is suspended on two silk-threads, engages with the crutch at the side of the movement and swings back and forth in the opening while the clock is running. The clock's date is determined by several factors. The first is that the overall style is clearly transitional, Louis XV to Louis XVI. The second are the geographical clues obtained from the dial. It must be pre-1747 since California is represented as an island. California was represented on many maps, world and local, as an island until the King of Spain decreed it part of mainland America in1747.The third is our knowledge of the maker. There is a clock by Joseph Graff with a very similar dial in Tardy IV, pg. 375 and Graff is listed to be working in1750 in Meister deer Uhrmacherkunst, pg. 220. There is also a clock with a swinging gilt-wood figure by Hoys in the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague. It is pictured in European Clocks, by Uresove, pg. 84. Height 26in.
SOLD  
c.1865 Irish Rosewood Stick Barometer, Spencer and Sons, Dublin.  

An Irish Victorian rosewood stick barometer by Spencer and Sons, Dublin. The nicely colored rosewood case has a flat pediment top, a thermometer and a flat cistern cover with a molded edge. The ivory scales are slanted inwards, are signed ‘Spencer and Sons, Dublin’, have ‘10am. Yesterday’ and ‘10am. Today’, are numbered 27 thru 31 with 10th increments and weather indications, have two Verniers operated by rack and pinion controlled by the two removable ivory knobs and are protected by a thick beveled glass. The glazed thermometer has an ivory scale and is divided for both Fahrenheit and Centigrade. The wooden cistern is housed in the base with the fixed screw adjustment out the bottom and is concealed by the removable cover.
Barometers with Irish names are somewhat scarcer than English ones. This might be due to their apparent lack of cofidence in the barometers ability to predict the weather as illustrated by the following words written by a native of the area:
'When the glass is up to thirty,
Be sure the weather will be dirty.
When the glass is high, O very!
There'll be rain in Cork and Kerry.
When the glass is low, O Lork!
There'll be rain in Kerry and Cork!'
And when the glass has climbed its best,
The sky is weeping in the West.
For a similar English barometer see: Barometers by Banfield, pg. 135.
John Spencer is listed in Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 by Gloria Clifton as working between 1838-1863 and was succeeded by Spencer and Sons.
Height - 37in.
SOLD

c.1895 Porcelain Mounted Champlevee Crystal Regulator with Matching Side Pieces.

A 19th century porcelain crystal regulator with its original matching side pieces. The gilt-bronze frame with chamfered sides and multicolored champlevee is decorated throughout with very nice quality pastel-colored porcelain panels and mounts elaborately decorated with gilt scrollwork. They include the panels to the front, embellished by very nicely modeled maidens, the top finial, the dial, pendulum bob and numerous smaller panels. The two matching side pieces show maidens playing musical instruments on the fronts and landscapes on the backs. The two-train eight-day movement strikes on a gong. It is very rare to find a porcelain clock with its original side pieces, especially one in such pristine condition. Height of clock 15.25in. Height of side pieces 11.25in.
SOLD
 
 c.1885 French Gilt-Bronze with Champlevee Animated Bird Clock, attributed to Bontems, Paris. Retailed by Tiffany & Co.

A large gilt-bronze with chaplevee mantle clock that activates an animated bird every half-hour. The circular case has a domed top, six Corinthian columns, a stepped base and multicolored champlevee both as part of the casting and as applied bands throughout. The concave gilt-bronze dial has Arabic numbers, a champlevee center, steel spade hands, a cast bezel and is signed by the retailer ‘Tiffany and Co’. The eight-day movement has a balance wheel escapement, strikes on a bell and activates the singing birdcage movement in the base every half-hour. The animation movement is housed in the base, is wound through the side, has a manual on/off at the base and sings a song while moving the colorful bird perched in the center of the clock. The bird rotates its head and moves both its beak and tail while singing the song. The animation movement will activate every half-hour for approximately 12 full hours on a single wind.
For a similar clock see: Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments by Q. David Bowers, pg. 89.
Height 23.25in.
SOLD

c.1860 Gilt-Bronze Annular Dial Clock with Original Side Pieces.

A very nice small early Victorian annular dial clock with matching side pieces. The urn shaped case with original finish has a removable top, acanthus leaf handles that terminate at the sides in male grotesque appliqués, has female mounts at the front and back and is supported by a fluted column with garlands that stands on four bun feet. The two matching sidepieces have removable tops with pinecone finials, grotesque figures to the sides and also are supported on fluted columns. The two annular dials, minute and hour, have cartouche numbers that are fastened by pins in the same manner found on earlier pieces. The 8-day time and strike movement has steel endplates to ensure proper running in the horizontal position, is wound and set through the top, has a fast slow lever with linkage to the cylinder platform mounted to the bottom plate and strikes on a bell.
It is extremely rare to find annular clocks with matching side pieces. The clock is completely restored and would make a superb addition to any collection.
Height - 13in.
SOLD

c.1785 English Mahogany Balloon Bracket Clock, Thomas Wright in the Poultry, Watch Maker to the King.

An exceptional Georgian mahogany balloon bracket clock by Thomas Wright, London. The balloon-shaped case has nicely colored and figured mahogany with brass mounts that include a large pineapple finial, a molded bezel, a pierced floral fret in the backdoor and four bracket feet. The particularly well-lettered flat porcelain dial has Roman numerals for the hours, Arabic numbers for the thirty-one day calendar chapter and is signed with great flourish by the maker ‘Thos, Wright in the Poultry, London, Watch Maker to the King’. The eight-day twin-fusee movement has shaped plates with superb border and floral engraving to the backplate, is signed by the maker ‘Wright, Watch Maker to the King’, has its original crownwheel escapement, is held into the case by brackets with matching engraving and strikes on a bell.
Thomas Wright is listed in Britten’s as working 1770-1792. He was Freed by Redemption in 1770, is listed at 6 Poultry after 1780 and died on a trip to Birmingham in 1792 presumably to complete some business with the eminent Mathew Boulton. He was a Quaker, a leading watchmaker and had at least one patent for a detent escapement and compensating balance. He signed the majority of his clocks ‘Maker to the King’, but held the appointment primarily in watches.
For a short discussion on balloon clocks see The Georgian Bracket Clock, pg. 147.
For short discussions of Thomas Wright see The Georgian Bracket Clock, pg 136 and Royal Clocks, pgs. 96-98.
The Wright clock is a good example of an elegant case style by an interesting maker known for, among other things, his elaborately signed porcelain dials. It is completely restored and would be a respectable addition to even the most discriminating collection.
Height - 22in.
SOLD

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