BY SHARP & SON, LONDON, CIRCA 1820

Details

A REGENCY BRONZE AND ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND EBONISED STRIKING BRACKET CLOCK
By Sharp & Son, London, circa 1820
The case of lancet outline with stepped and concave-moulded top surmounted by a seated bronze lion, the sides with small tracery sound frets, the front applied with a well-cast bronze of an alligator flanked by Egyptian herms, on out-set front angles supported on bronze paw feet, the convex glazed bezel to the white painted Roman dial signed 'Sharp & Son, Fish St. Hill London', with pierced brass hands, the five pillar twin fusee (wire lines) movement with anchor escapement and strike-on bell on the border-engraved back-plate with similarly engraved securing brackets to the case
25½ in. (65 cm.) high

Lot Essay

The crocodile is sometimes said to be a reference to Nelson's victory of the Nile (1787) but this seems improbable. It may be a crest or a manifestation of the Egyptian taste as promoted by conniosseurs such as Thomas Hope (d. 1831). A Regency hanging cabinet with a similar crocodile mount is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (illustrated in D. Fitz-Gerald, Georgian Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1969, no. 138), while a closely related clock in the collection of the Bank of England, London and with Egyptian herm figures, is illustrated in M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1830, London, rev. ed., 1965, p. 99, fig. 238.

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