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Lot Essay
Between Evans of Handsworth and Smiths of Clerkenwell, these two top-class clock makers from the second half of the 19th Century probably accounted for more skeleton clocks than all the other makers in England.
The economic consumer boom in the second half of the 19th Century, sparked by the industrial revolution, was the perfect springboard market for John Smith & Sons's elaborate skeleton clocks. Their vision, to ape the design of important buildings and cathedrals using elaborate designs for movement frames, was a brilliant concept. Their clocks epitomised the new wealthy industrialists' vision for quality of product, clever industrial design and engineering practicality. Smith & Sons rarely signed their clocks, largely due to the great strength of the retailers who were insisting on having their names present. On the whole Smith's clocks were of better quality than Evans, but they generally only used four crossings to a wheel except on certain models such as their Litchfield Cathedral clock and their grandest design based on the Brighton Pavillion epitomised by the present lot. A wonderfully explicit and informative article titled A visit to a Clerkenwell Factory and published in The Illustrated London News 20 September, 1851 (Derek Roberts British Skeleton Clocks, pp. 260-167) describes and illustrates John Smith & Sons' workshops in extraordinary detail.
The economic consumer boom in the second half of the 19th Century, sparked by the industrial revolution, was the perfect springboard market for John Smith & Sons's elaborate skeleton clocks. Their vision, to ape the design of important buildings and cathedrals using elaborate designs for movement frames, was a brilliant concept. Their clocks epitomised the new wealthy industrialists' vision for quality of product, clever industrial design and engineering practicality. Smith & Sons rarely signed their clocks, largely due to the great strength of the retailers who were insisting on having their names present. On the whole Smith's clocks were of better quality than Evans, but they generally only used four crossings to a wheel except on certain models such as their Litchfield Cathedral clock and their grandest design based on the Brighton Pavillion epitomised by the present lot. A wonderfully explicit and informative article titled A visit to a Clerkenwell Factory and published in The Illustrated London News 20 September, 1851 (Derek Roberts British Skeleton Clocks, pp. 260-167) describes and illustrates John Smith & Sons' workshops in extraordinary detail.