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Lot Essay
The exceptionally fine and richly carved mahogany case is designed in the George II Roman fashion. The style of its temple pediment and truss-buttressed hood and the tapered pedestal recalls, in part, the antique manner of Inigo Jones (d.1652) that was promoted as the 'National' style by a number of the architectural publications sponsored by the Yorkshire-born connoisseur Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, with the assistance of his Yorkshire-born protegée William Kent (d.1748).
In addition, the pedestal is festooned, like the dial, with ribbon-scroll Roman acanthus and this reflects the fashionable interior decoration being promoted at around 1750 by the Yorkshire architect James Paine (d.1789) and the Yorkshire cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale (d.1779). At this period there was a close working relationship between Paine and Chippendale, and there is a good possibility that this splendid case was executed in the Chippendale family workshops in Otley, Yorkshire. Especially as a later version is featured in his Cabinet-Maker and Gentleman's Director, 1754, which served to advertise the establishment of his new Martin's Lane workshops in London
Thomas Ogden was born in 1693, the second son of Samuel Ogden of Ripponden, Yorkshire. He was brought up a Quaker and married Grace Atkinson in 1724. It is uncertain when exactly he moved to Halifax but he had there a workshop in the High Street and another in Upper Swoft Place near Soyland. He had no children and his wife died in 1766 aged 72 and Ogden died in 1769. A fascinating obituary in the Leeds Mercury in 1769 reads;
His superior abilities in his profession are well known in this and some neighbouring counties. A great many gentlemen's houses being furnished with the productions of his labours. He was one of the people called Quakers. His moderation and charity to other religious sects was truly exemplary. His peculiar diction in the Epistolatory style made his correspondence greatly desireable by anyone who had any connection with him, many of his epistles being preserved in the closets of the learned and curious. He was a steady friend and facetious companion, compassionate and indulgent, a great promoter of industrious merit, but a severe scourge of the slothful and indolent
The coded 'chapters' on the outer rim of the chapter ring are simple to understand but their origin remains a fascinating mystery;
L = 10
R = 2
U = 1
In addition, the pedestal is festooned, like the dial, with ribbon-scroll Roman acanthus and this reflects the fashionable interior decoration being promoted at around 1750 by the Yorkshire architect James Paine (d.1789) and the Yorkshire cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale (d.1779). At this period there was a close working relationship between Paine and Chippendale, and there is a good possibility that this splendid case was executed in the Chippendale family workshops in Otley, Yorkshire. Especially as a later version is featured in his Cabinet-Maker and Gentleman's Director, 1754, which served to advertise the establishment of his new Martin's Lane workshops in London
Thomas Ogden was born in 1693, the second son of Samuel Ogden of Ripponden, Yorkshire. He was brought up a Quaker and married Grace Atkinson in 1724. It is uncertain when exactly he moved to Halifax but he had there a workshop in the High Street and another in Upper Swoft Place near Soyland. He had no children and his wife died in 1766 aged 72 and Ogden died in 1769. A fascinating obituary in the Leeds Mercury in 1769 reads;
His superior abilities in his profession are well known in this and some neighbouring counties. A great many gentlemen's houses being furnished with the productions of his labours. He was one of the people called Quakers. His moderation and charity to other religious sects was truly exemplary. His peculiar diction in the Epistolatory style made his correspondence greatly desireable by anyone who had any connection with him, many of his epistles being preserved in the closets of the learned and curious. He was a steady friend and facetious companion, compassionate and indulgent, a great promoter of industrious merit, but a severe scourge of the slothful and indolent
The coded 'chapters' on the outer rim of the chapter ring are simple to understand but their origin remains a fascinating mystery;
L = 10
R = 2
U = 1