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A George II ebony astronomical striking bracket clock with revolving terrestrial sphere, year calendar, alarm and pull quarter repeat

JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, LONDON. CIRCA 1730

Details

A George II ebony astronomical striking bracket clock with revolving terrestrial sphere, year calendar, alarm and pull quarter repeat
Joseph Williamson, London. Circa 1730
The brass-lined case with urn finial to inverted bell top, brass baluster handles to the glazed sides, foliate brass escutcheons to the front door with pierced ebony quarter frets, the moulded base on brass pad feet, dial signed Jos: Williamson LONDON on a reserve within the matted centre with pendulum aperture and ringed winding holes, later silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with pierced blued steel hands, silvered alarm disc set into the centre, blued steel lever by chapter III to engage/disengage the globe, the arch set with a silvered terrestrial globe of the then known world rotating on its axis and tilting according to the seasons, flanked by subsidiary rings for strike/silent and year calendar, the substantial movement with thick brass plates and six ringed baluster pillars, twin gut fusees, pivoted verge escapement, pull quarter repeat on six bells via six hammers, hour strike and alarm on a further larger bell, the rotating terrestrial sphere driven indirectly via a long steel arbor meshing with a crown wheel in the motionwork, the inclination and declination simulated by means of a brass cam rotating behind the year wheel, the backplate profusely engraved with flowerheads, scrolling foliage and strapwork and inhabited with with three pairs of birds and centred by the figure of Apollo emblematic of the Arts and Sciences, signed Jos: Williamson London in an elaborate foliate cartouche; together with a brass-mounted ebony wall bracket with concave moulded base sliding forward to reveal a key compartment
30¾in. (78cm.) high

Provenance

Christie's, London, 18 July 1979, lot 119, The Property of a Lady.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

This remarkable clock combines astronomy with horology in a manner that is both aesthetically pleasing and academically instructive.

The mechanical thought process that went into designing the motion of the globe, utilising the year calendar and a cam, is typical of Williamson's work. Williamson was renown for his work on the equation of time and solar clocks (see lot 152). Both of these feats required the incorporation of a cam wheel similar to that used on the present clock which in this instance is cleverly used to tilt the rotating globe to achieve its correct inclination and declination according to the seasons.
The dial plate displays some evidence to suggest that the present chapter ring may be a replacement. This appears to have been a perfectly innocent alteration as there has been no attempt made to cover tracks and fill the four vacant holes. The dial and movement are clearly and correctly signed by Williamson and one can only assume that the earlier chapter ring was either damaged or mislaid in a clockmaker's workshop.

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