Lot Essay
James Ferguson Cole, 1798-1880, elder son of James and Catherine Cole of Nether Stowey, Somerset
A similar silver gilt clock in the British Museum is hallmarked 1825 and signed J.F. & T. Cole, interestingly the case is stamped J.B. for William Bateman but the handle mounts are by Joseph Angel, presumably to use up old stock. Nothing is known of J. F. Cole's apprenticeship or even how he spent the period between 1813, when the family left Nether Stowey, and 1820 when he set up in London. However, it is possible that he followed the course John Roger Arnold had taken and spent at least some of these formative years at Breguet's workshops. In 1823, the year of Breguet's death, it is thought that J. F. Cole first started making carriage clocks and this may very well have been one of the first he made. It exhibits all the qualities of Breguet's workmanship and would undoubtedly have been made to order
A similar silver gilt clock in the British Museum is hallmarked 1825 and signed J.F. & T. Cole, interestingly the case is stamped J.B. for William Bateman but the handle mounts are by Joseph Angel, presumably to use up old stock. Nothing is known of J. F. Cole's apprenticeship or even how he spent the period between 1813, when the family left Nether Stowey, and 1820 when he set up in London. However, it is possible that he followed the course John Roger Arnold had taken and spent at least some of these formative years at Breguet's workshops. In 1823, the year of Breguet's death, it is thought that J. F. Cole first started making carriage clocks and this may very well have been one of the first he made. It exhibits all the qualities of Breguet's workmanship and would undoubtedly have been made to order