VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buy… Read more

A Victorian engraved gilt-brass desk timepiece with moonphase, in the form of a miniature sideboard

THOMAS COLE, LONDON, NO. 1018 3. CIRCA 1855

Details

A Victorian engraved gilt-brass desk timepiece with moonphase, in the form of a miniature sideboard
Thomas Cole, London, No. 1018 3. Circa 1855
The case entirely engraved with delicate scrolling foliage and strap work on a hatched ground, with breakfront pilasters to the sides surmounted by ball finials and on bun feet (two missing), the central drawer above the dial carrying the original double-ended and faceted winding key numbered 1018 on the shaft, the arched backboard with automatic revolving moonphase, the backplate with apertures for wind, hand-set and regulation and further signed by the retailer Tegelsten & Thornley Maison Barbe Grands Morskoi, Saint Petersbourg, the silvered dial with painted Roman chapters and delicate blued steel fleur-de-lys hands, the centre engraved with a geometric strapwork foliate pattern, the half-plate movement with circular gilt-brass plates, the backplate signed Thos Cole London No. 1018, spring barrel and laver escapement with gold three-arm balance, the base of the case punch-numbered 1018 3
5½in. (14cm.) high

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The present clock is a quintessential example of Thomas Cole at his best and most inventive. There are various examples of these frivolous timepieces in the form of furniture namely; the chiffonier, a cheval mirror, a sideboard and a writing desk.
The present example is similar to one illustrated in the J.B. Hawkins Thomas Cole and Victorian clockmaking, item No. 56 pp. 152 & 153. That example has the number 1862 indicating that it was made very late in Cole's oeuvre, circa 1867. The present clock's series number 1018 would indicate a date of circa 1853 and the style number 3 indicates that it was the third example of a sideboard clock that Cole had made to date.

More from Important Clocks and Marine Chronometers

View All