This outstanding longcase clock with highly architectonic case and astronomical movement is one of the most important provincial clocks to come onto the market. Its title, Mr Sandforth's clock, is based on a book writen by him describing his achievement. It is more than likely that it was made for a Mr Sandforth probably by Joseph Finney of Liverpool. The astonishing case is loosely based on case designs in Chipendale's Director and might well have been executed by the Liverpool cabinet maker David Wright (see D. Fitz-Gerald Georgian Furniture,1969. fig. 47.). The only indication of its next owner is a restoration bill which has been preserved on the inside of the trunk and is made out to a Mr Joseph Miles. The work was carried out by B.R. & J. Moore receipted in April 1862; An astronomical chime clock; cleaned and replaced the escapement, polished the pinions and pivots The next known owner was the Ionides family of Buxted Park, who were the patrons of the great Pre-Raphaelite artists. The clock stood in the Boudoir in Buxton House and is illustrated in and briefly talked about in a Country Life Article (vide op. cit.). From 1967-1985 the clock was exhibited at Kenwood House, the home of the Iveagh family, now looked after by the National Heritage Trust.
Perhaps the most recent comparable clock was the extraordinary longcase clock by Edward Cockey sold in these rooms 6 July, 1988, lot 67, *60,000. Its columnar case also had a complicated astronomical movement with rising and falling shutters indicating the length of day and night, however even this extraordinary clock has neither the decorative qualities or the mechanical complexities of Mr. Sandforth's.