Lot Essay
Samuel Knibb (d.1670) was the son of John Knibb, a yeoman of Claydon. In 1663, he was admitted to the London Clockmaker's Company first working at Westminster and subsequently Threadneadle Street. Joseph (d.1711), his younger cousin and the most famous of the Knibb family clockmakers, most certainly served his apprenticeship under Samuel, and thereafter established himself in London as a leading clockmaker from 1670.
Samuel Knibb was not a prodigious maker judging by the extant number of clocks by him. The few remaining clocks by Samuel have two things in common: their outstanding quality, and their compatability with the Fromanteel workshop. The latter is no surprise for the Fromanteels were the leading London clockmakers in every respect from innovation to design. There is no doubt that a good deal of inter-collaboration went on for this was a time of extraordinary horological innovation with the pendulum having just been invented in 1657.
The present clock is unique in that it is the only recorded longcase by Samuel Knibb. The most extraordinary feature about the dial is the silver chapter ring that has been made using the same technique as the Fromanteel workshop. A circlet of base metal is faced with a circlet of silver and rivetted together. An illustrated example of this technique by Fromanteel showing the rivetts may be found in P.G. Dawson, C.B. Drover and D.W. Parkes, Early English Clocks, 1982, p. 83, pl.103. The same process was used on an even earlier clock, also by Fromanteel, from the collection of Samuel Messer, sold Christie's London, 5 December 1991, lot 37.
The movement is typical of the Fromanteel style and yet it has peculiar qualities exclusive to Knibb family clocks. The ten pillars may seem excessive, however, the use of latches and the triple-divided front plate enables the clockmaker to strip and re-assemble the movement more easily. It also simplifies the complexities of the three trains which in itself necessitate the use of ten pillars (instead of the more common five or six) to hold and secure such a large movement together. Quarter-striking clocks of this period were very rare and few survive to this day. Such was the inaccuracy of clocks up to this time that for a clock to strike the quarters was both unnecessary and misleading. Only the very best clockmaker would have attempted such a movement and the clock would most certainly have been made to order by a very special client.
The simplicity of the case is typical of the period with architectural pediment, simple columns and straight-forward (albeit altered) plinth. The temple pediment supported on Doric columns corresponds to that on a clock case designed in the 1660's by Christopher Wren (d.1723), Surveyor-General of King Charles II's Board of Architectural Works (S. Wren, Memoirs of the Family of Wrens, 1750), and to that of a clock supplied by Ahasuerus Fromanteel to Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (illustrated in L. Fabian, 'Could it have been Wren?', Antiquarian Horology, Winter 1977, figs. 11 and 12).
The reputed royal provenance to this clock is a plausible one, albeit one that cannot be confirmed by existing documentation. Certainly, Joseph Knibb supplied clocks to the Royal family. He supplied a turret clock to King Charles II in 1677, and two long case clocks, later recorded in the inventories of George III's son, Frederick, Duke of York (d.1827). The early 20th century label to the inside of the case door relates that it was removed from Windsor Castle having been given by George IV to his librarian, Mr. Attwood. Thomas Attwood (d.1825) was a musician in the Royal Household, and until 1820, he held the post of 'Page of the Presents' to the Prince of Wales (later George IV). His son, also Thomas (d.1838), was a musician in the Royal household, as well. As such, he would have received, in turn, a gift from the King who was known to have been updating his inventory at the time. Presumably, Attwood then presented the clock to the Bodleian Library. It then disappears until the 1926 sale.
The reputed connection with the Royal family is strengthened by the known Knibb family commissions, the inventiveness and superb quality of the clockworks, the up-to-date design of the case and its elaborate veneers in exotic timbers. All these factors would lend support to a Royal commission by Charles II.
Samuel Knibb was not a prodigious maker judging by the extant number of clocks by him. The few remaining clocks by Samuel have two things in common: their outstanding quality, and their compatability with the Fromanteel workshop. The latter is no surprise for the Fromanteels were the leading London clockmakers in every respect from innovation to design. There is no doubt that a good deal of inter-collaboration went on for this was a time of extraordinary horological innovation with the pendulum having just been invented in 1657.
The present clock is unique in that it is the only recorded longcase by Samuel Knibb. The most extraordinary feature about the dial is the silver chapter ring that has been made using the same technique as the Fromanteel workshop. A circlet of base metal is faced with a circlet of silver and rivetted together. An illustrated example of this technique by Fromanteel showing the rivetts may be found in P.G. Dawson, C.B. Drover and D.W. Parkes, Early English Clocks, 1982, p. 83, pl.103. The same process was used on an even earlier clock, also by Fromanteel, from the collection of Samuel Messer, sold Christie's London, 5 December 1991, lot 37.
The movement is typical of the Fromanteel style and yet it has peculiar qualities exclusive to Knibb family clocks. The ten pillars may seem excessive, however, the use of latches and the triple-divided front plate enables the clockmaker to strip and re-assemble the movement more easily. It also simplifies the complexities of the three trains which in itself necessitate the use of ten pillars (instead of the more common five or six) to hold and secure such a large movement together. Quarter-striking clocks of this period were very rare and few survive to this day. Such was the inaccuracy of clocks up to this time that for a clock to strike the quarters was both unnecessary and misleading. Only the very best clockmaker would have attempted such a movement and the clock would most certainly have been made to order by a very special client.
The simplicity of the case is typical of the period with architectural pediment, simple columns and straight-forward (albeit altered) plinth. The temple pediment supported on Doric columns corresponds to that on a clock case designed in the 1660's by Christopher Wren (d.1723), Surveyor-General of King Charles II's Board of Architectural Works (S. Wren, Memoirs of the Family of Wrens, 1750), and to that of a clock supplied by Ahasuerus Fromanteel to Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (illustrated in L. Fabian, 'Could it have been Wren?', Antiquarian Horology, Winter 1977, figs. 11 and 12).
The reputed royal provenance to this clock is a plausible one, albeit one that cannot be confirmed by existing documentation. Certainly, Joseph Knibb supplied clocks to the Royal family. He supplied a turret clock to King Charles II in 1677, and two long case clocks, later recorded in the inventories of George III's son, Frederick, Duke of York (d.1827). The early 20th century label to the inside of the case door relates that it was removed from Windsor Castle having been given by George IV to his librarian, Mr. Attwood. Thomas Attwood (d.1825) was a musician in the Royal Household, and until 1820, he held the post of 'Page of the Presents' to the Prince of Wales (later George IV). His son, also Thomas (d.1838), was a musician in the Royal household, as well. As such, he would have received, in turn, a gift from the King who was known to have been updating his inventory at the time. Presumably, Attwood then presented the clock to the Bodleian Library. It then disappears until the 1926 sale.
The reputed connection with the Royal family is strengthened by the known Knibb family commissions, the inventiveness and superb quality of the clockworks, the up-to-date design of the case and its elaborate veneers in exotic timbers. All these factors would lend support to a Royal commission by Charles II.