A GEORGE I WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK

GEORGE GRAHAM, LONDON, NO. 573, CIRCA 1730

Details

A GEORGE I WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK
George Graham, London, no. 573, circa 1730
The case with brass ball-and-flambeau finials to the caddy top, gilt-metal capitals to the three-quarter columns, concave throat moulding above the rectangular trunk door with massive brass hinges and twice punch-marked 573 on the leading edge, the plinth supported on a double-footed skirt, the 11 in. square dial signed Geo: Graham London on a silvered oval plaque in the matted centre with subsidiary seconds ring and calendar aperture with pin-hole adjustment, silvered chapter ring with lozenge half-hour markers and pierced blued-steel hands, mask-and-foliate spandrels interrupting the foliate engraved borders, bolt-and-shutter maintaining power lever by chapters II and III, latches to the dial feet and to the five robust pillars of the movement with anchor escapement, rack striking on a bell above, the back and front plates both punch-numbered 573, brass backplate securing bracket to an iron T-bar on the back-board
18½ in. (47 cm.) wide; 74¾ in. (190 cm.) high; 10½ in. (27 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired from Anthony Woodburn, Kent, 1979

Sale room notice

Graham no. 573 is one of his earliest longcase clocks recorded. The particularly small 11 in. square dial and early movement format would indicate that it was made shortly after his master, Thomas Thompion's death in 1713.
The height of this clock is 95 in. (241 cm.) high and not as stated in the catalogue.
There have been restorations to the veneer of the case and hood of this clock.

Lot Essay

George Graham, 1673-1715; a pre-eminent clockmaker and Fellow of the Royal Society. Apprenticed in July 1688 to Henry Aske her was freed in 1695 and immediately transfered to Tompion's workshops. In 1704 he married Tompion's niece Elizabeth. He took over the business on Tompion's death in 1713 and removed to the 'Dial and One Crown' in 1720. Graham is credited with several inventions including the deadbeat escapement in 1713, the mercury pendulum and cylinder escapement in 1726.

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