A George III blue japanned quarter striking longcase clock
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A George III blue japanned quarter striking longcase clock

HENRY HINDLEY, YORK. CIRCA 1760

Details
A George III blue japanned quarter striking longcase clock
Henry Hindley, York. Circa 1760
The case re-decorated with raised gilt and silvered Chinoiserie decoration, double skirt to the plinth, breakarch trunk door, the hood with silvered wood caps to the three-quarter columns, the arched dial signed Henry Hindley York on a silvered narrow ring in the arch further engraved Strike/Silent/Quarters Silent, matted centre, flanked by unusual spandrels cast with foliage centred by male and female portrait medallions, the main dial with silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with blued steel hands, matted centre with seconds ring, urn-and-eagle spandrels, substantial three train movement, the going train with anchor escapement and good quality pendulum with large brass-faced bob, hour strike on a large bell and ting-tang quarter strike on two further smaller bells, unusual strike/silent lever system behind the dial and extending to the rear of the movement, bolt-and-shutter maintaining power
7ft. 4½in. (224cm.) high
Provenance
Bought from a dealer circa 1975
Literature
ILLUSTRATED
Robinson (Tom), The Longcase Clock, Antique Collectors' Club, 1981, pp. 277-281, figs. 9/116-119
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Law, (Rodney J.), Henry Hindley of York, Parts I & II, June 1971 & September 1972, Antiquarian Horological Society.
Setchell (John), Henry Hindley & Son, The Yorkshire Philosophical Society, 1972
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

The present clock is admirably described and illustrated in great detail by Tom Robinson The Longcase Clock, op. cit.. Henry Hindley, 1701-1771, was a very ingenius and individual clockmaker, his output was comparatively small and he did not publish his work. He is thought to have been born in Manchester and served his apprenticeship there before moving to set up his workshops in Petergate, York in 1730 where he was granted the Freedom of the City in 1731. His best known apprentice was John Holmes who left for fame and fortune in London in 1749 after serving his seven years with Hindley. Holmes's memoir of Hindley gives an excellent insight to the man's character - Mr. Hindley was a man of the most communicative disposition, a great lover of mechanics, and of a most fertile genius.
The present clock movement and dial ably demonstrates some of Hindley's quirky genius. The unusual seconds ring divided on the inside and calibrated for ten seconds, the rare spandrels, maintaining power mounted on the frontplate, rack strike on both the hour and quarter trains (both warned and released independently) and the most unusual repeating system with spring-loaded discs on the backplate giving repeat from either side.

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