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Lot Essay
The repeating work of the present watch is thought to be by Matthew Stogden who improved the repeating mechanism invented by Daniel Quare. Stogden was employed most of his life by George Graham, one of John Ellicott's peers.
The eminent watch and clock maker John Ellicott was born 1706, the son of "an ingenious watchmaker of great note", also called John.
He established his business in Swithin's Alley, Royal Exchange in 1728. He was the inventor of a compensation pendulum and developed the use of the cylinder escapement, invented by George Graham in 1726. Like his peer George Graham he became a member of the Royal Society for which he wrote several papers. Ellicott's work is distinguished by the excellent workmanship and can be found in museums and Royal collections throughout the world. He was appointed clockmaker to the King and designed the London Hospital clock. He died suddenly in 1772 and was succeeded by his son Edward.
For a biographical note on John Ellicott and his numbering system see Watches by Cecil Clutton & George Daniels, pp. 132 & 133.
Henry Manly
The repoussé work of highest quality is signed by Henry Manly, one of London's most prolific gold chasers as described in Richard Edgcumbe's The Art of the Gold Chaser in 18th Century London, pp. 70 - 83. He furthermore mentions that between around 1740 to 1760 much of Manly's work, at least eighteen cases, was executed for the Ellicotts, for whom Manly and the renowned G.M. Moser were the principal chasers. His last work known which he executed at the age of 69 is Ellicott 6027, circa 1767-8.
The repoussé scene depicts the Roman general Coriolanus in armour flanked by subordinates before his kneeling wife Volumnia, their two small children and his mother Veturia.
Coriolanus (Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus), a Roman patrician is said to have derived his name from the capture of the Volscian city Corioli. According to legend he was expelled from Rome because of his demand to abolish the people's tribunate in return for distributing state grain to the starving plebeians. He joined the Volscians and led them in an attack on Rome, presumably 491 B.C. Only the tears of his wife and his mother caused him to spare the city. The angry and frustrated Volscians put him to death. Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" is based on Plutarch's story of the events.
The eminent watch and clock maker John Ellicott was born 1706, the son of "an ingenious watchmaker of great note", also called John.
He established his business in Swithin's Alley, Royal Exchange in 1728. He was the inventor of a compensation pendulum and developed the use of the cylinder escapement, invented by George Graham in 1726. Like his peer George Graham he became a member of the Royal Society for which he wrote several papers. Ellicott's work is distinguished by the excellent workmanship and can be found in museums and Royal collections throughout the world. He was appointed clockmaker to the King and designed the London Hospital clock. He died suddenly in 1772 and was succeeded by his son Edward.
For a biographical note on John Ellicott and his numbering system see Watches by Cecil Clutton & George Daniels, pp. 132 & 133.
Henry Manly
The repoussé work of highest quality is signed by Henry Manly, one of London's most prolific gold chasers as described in Richard Edgcumbe's The Art of the Gold Chaser in 18th Century London, pp. 70 - 83. He furthermore mentions that between around 1740 to 1760 much of Manly's work, at least eighteen cases, was executed for the Ellicotts, for whom Manly and the renowned G.M. Moser were the principal chasers. His last work known which he executed at the age of 69 is Ellicott 6027, circa 1767-8.
The repoussé scene depicts the Roman general Coriolanus in armour flanked by subordinates before his kneeling wife Volumnia, their two small children and his mother Veturia.
Coriolanus (Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus), a Roman patrician is said to have derived his name from the capture of the Volscian city Corioli. According to legend he was expelled from Rome because of his demand to abolish the people's tribunate in return for distributing state grain to the starving plebeians. He joined the Volscians and led them in an attack on Rome, presumably 491 B.C. Only the tears of his wife and his mother caused him to spare the city. The angry and frustrated Volscians put him to death. Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" is based on Plutarch's story of the events.