A CHARLES II WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK

JOSEPH KNIBB LONDINI FECIT, CIRCA 1680

Details

A CHARLES II WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK
Joseph Knibb Londini Fecit, circa 1680
The case with spiral twist columns to the rising hood with Knibb-style pierced wood frieze sound frets, vestiges of the spoon-and-lock system on the back of the convex throat moulding, the rectangular trunk door with gilt-metal eagle-head escutcheon, original reversed hinges, convex mouldings to the plinth on replaced bun feet, the dial signed Joseph Knibb Londini fecit beneath the silvered chapter ring with finely pierced and chamfered blued-steel hands, calendar aperture to the finely matted centre, chased cherub-and-foliate spandrels interrupting the foliate engraved border, latches to the dial feet and four ringed pillars of the movement with outside countwheel strike on a 'pork pie' bell above, anchor escapement, the pendulum hook-suspended beneath a steel spring regulated by a Knibb-style butterfly rating nut
16½ in. (42 cm.) wide; 6ft 3 in. (190 cm.) high; 8¾ in. (22.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired from Anthony Woodburn, Grosvenor House Fine Art and Antiques Fair, June 1994

Literature

Country Life, illustrated, 9 June 1994, p. 49.

Lot Essay

The plinth of the present clock appears to have survived largely intact and has an ingenious slide board affixed to its inside to ease the passage of the weights when they are wound up.
The backboard has evidence of an iron T-bar which was used to secure a brass backplate bracket which is now missing, but two vacant holes clearly indicate its previous position.

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