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Lot Essay
It has been suggested that this timepiece was originally designed as a travelling clock. The back plate is notably engraved with delicate foliage in the bottom half and at the sides in the upper half, and the the signature is at the bottom. The area left vacant was possibly originally overlaid by a bridgecock and balance wheel escapement with the area above the signature for spring regulation. There are strategically placed filled holes in the back plate to support this theory.
Very few travelling clocks were made at this period. Perhaps the best known is the repeating timepiece by Thomas Tompion (British Museum, Ilbert Bequest) illustrated in Dawson, Drover and Parkes, Early English Clocks, Antique Collectors' Club, 1982, pl.544. That clock has a large bridgecock for the balance wheel and the added benefit of being controlled by either balance or pendulum. The authors speculate that it may have been for use at sea. This is an interesting point in relation to the present clock, given the Fromanteel family's strong Dutch connections and Holland's maritime history.
Very few travelling clocks were made at this period. Perhaps the best known is the repeating timepiece by Thomas Tompion (British Museum, Ilbert Bequest) illustrated in Dawson, Drover and Parkes, Early English Clocks, Antique Collectors' Club, 1982, pl.544. That clock has a large bridgecock for the balance wheel and the added benefit of being controlled by either balance or pendulum. The authors speculate that it may have been for use at sea. This is an interesting point in relation to the present clock, given the Fromanteel family's strong Dutch connections and Holland's maritime history.