Lot 33
33
A Victorian engraved gilt-brass strut timepiece in the manner of Thomas Cole
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more THOMAS COLE (1800-1864) Thomas Cole was born in 1800 the son of James and Catherine Cole of Nether Stowey in Somerset. His father was thought to have been a clockmaker, which may explain how Thomas and his elder brother, James Ferguson Cole, were introduced to the trade. Both were immensely talented but their apprenticeship is a mystery with much speculation about the possibility of them having studied under the great French , clockmaker Abraham Louis Breguet (d. 1823). The two brothers formed a partnership in 1821 and by the next year had begun to produce a small series of highly complicated silver hump-back travelling clocks. The hump-back carriage clock was originally designed and made fashionable by Breguet ten years earlier, lending support to the Cole brothers' theoretical apprenticeship. These carriage clocks were amongst the most complicated pieces being made in England at the time and Thomas Cole was then just twenty-two years old. By 1835 the brothers had gone their separate ways; Thomas's first wife had died and he married again in 1841 and later had two sons and a daughter. By 1845 he called himself A designer and maker of ornamental clocks and he began to make the now famous and popular series of exceptional quality clocks that appealed enormously to the nouveau riche Victorians and are now avidly sought-after and collected.
A Victorian engraved gilt-brass strut timepiece in the manner of Thomas Cole

UNSIGNED. CIRCA 1870

Details
A Victorian engraved gilt-brass strut timepiece in the manner of Thomas Cole
Unsigned. Circa 1870
The silvered dial finely engraved with scrolling foliage, flowerheads and a basket of flowers above the Roman chapter ring with delicate blued steel hands, the Swiss going barrel movement with nickel plated circular plates, lever escapement, the oval case framed by pierced and engraved gilt-metal foliage
6¼ in. (16 cm.) high
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

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