Lot Essay
Ralph Eden is recorded as working between 1773-93.
The case door and the hollow-cornered panel fronting its canted pedestal are veneered from the same panel of finely-figured mahogany. The quarter-columns flanking the door correspond to the fluted Tuscan 'pillars' of the arched hood, whose scrolled pediment is enriched with 'roses' and surmounted by 'vase' finials. While corresponding to Liverpool-manufactured cases, it also relates to the 'handsome mahogany clock cases with scrolled pediments' executed by Gillows of London and Lancaster, and is likely to date from around 1780. A sketch for a similar case, but lacking a hollow in the arched door, appears in Gillow's manufacturing cost-book (Estimate Sketch Book) dated 27 October 1787, and evolved from a sketch pattern of 1760 attributed to Richard Gillow (see S. Stuart, 'A Neat Clockcase Ornamented', Antiquarian Horology, December 1984, p. 130, fig. 3). The black glass spandrels enriched with 'gilt sprigs' are likely to have been supplied from London. A similar clock-case, now at Abbot Hall, Kendal, contains a movement by Peter Hathornthwaite of Kirkby Lonsdale (see A. Woodward, 'Abbot Hall, Kendal,' Country Life, 9 September 1993, p. 64, fig. 2).
The case door and the hollow-cornered panel fronting its canted pedestal are veneered from the same panel of finely-figured mahogany. The quarter-columns flanking the door correspond to the fluted Tuscan 'pillars' of the arched hood, whose scrolled pediment is enriched with 'roses' and surmounted by 'vase' finials. While corresponding to Liverpool-manufactured cases, it also relates to the 'handsome mahogany clock cases with scrolled pediments' executed by Gillows of London and Lancaster, and is likely to date from around 1780. A sketch for a similar case, but lacking a hollow in the arched door, appears in Gillow's manufacturing cost-book (Estimate Sketch Book) dated 27 October 1787, and evolved from a sketch pattern of 1760 attributed to Richard Gillow (see S. Stuart, 'A Neat Clockcase Ornamented', Antiquarian Horology, December 1984, p. 130, fig. 3). The black glass spandrels enriched with 'gilt sprigs' are likely to have been supplied from London. A similar clock-case, now at Abbot Hall, Kendal, contains a movement by Peter Hathornthwaite of Kirkby Lonsdale (see A. Woodward, 'Abbot Hall, Kendal,' Country Life, 9 September 1993, p. 64, fig. 2).