[SMITH & Son Ltd, S., London]

Details

[SMITH & Son Ltd, S., London]
PATENT 19460 EMPIRE CLOCK [c.1910]
A 6-inch (15.2cm.) diameter terrestrial clock globe made up of twelve colour printed paper gores, the equatorial graduated in degrees and hours, the ecliptic ungraduated, the oceans showing trade winds, cable lines and shipping routes with distances in nautical miles, the continents with nation states variously coloured, Austro-Hungarian Empire shown intact, Panama shown as independent (many old abrasions), with turned brass finial, and hour pointer, the lower limb impressed PATENT and BREV S.G.D.G., with curved support for silvered hour ring impressed with numbers I-XII twice, and adjustable moon on curved brass wire support, with geard motion mounted on fluted pillar support over the drum-shaped stand enclosing the clockwork mechanism, wound from the underside impressed MADE IN FRANCE 666 -- 12in. (30.5cm.) high

Lot Essay

A similar Empire Clock was offered at Christie's on 24 June 1998 as Lot 42 (p.25), with a label to S. Smith & Son Ltd, London. This example can be dated to between 1903, when Panama won its independence from Columbia, and the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the first World War.

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