Lot 100
100
A George III mahogany and brass-mounted striking table clock
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A George III mahogany and brass-mounted striking table clock

JOHN ELLICOTT, LONDON. CIRCA 1765

Details
A George III mahogany and brass-mounted striking table clock
John Ellicott, London. Circa 1765
The case with brass handle to inverted bell top, cast brass flower and cartouches sound frets to the sides, brass-lined rear door, brass-lined quarter frets with foliate cast spandrels to brass-lined front door, the brass-bound base raised on cast scroll feet, circular brass bezel over silvered and engraved square dial in Ellicott's fashion, with Roman and Arabic chapter ring and signed in the lower corners Ellicott/London, with strike/silent lever in the upper corner, blued steel hands, the eight day movement with five pillars, twin gut fusees and verge escapement, strike on bell, the back plate engraved with a chinoiserie cartouche around a repeat signature; two case keys
16¾ in. (42.5 cm.) high, handle down
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

John Ellicott (1706-1772) was one of the most eminent clock and watch makers of the 18th century. Ellicott took premises in Sweetings Alley, near the Royal Exchange, circa 1728. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1738, serving on its council for three years. He took a keen interest in scientific developments of the day and the famous globemaker John Senex was a friend, as was the astronomer John Hadley. In a portrait of Ellicott by Nathaniel Dance he is shown with drawings of his compensated pendulum and it is for his work on temperature compensation that he is perhaps best known. In 1751 he presented a paper to the Royal Society 'Contrivances for preventing the Irregularity of Pendulums Arising from Temperature'. Above all, Ellicott was renowned for the fine quality of his workmanship and not surprisingly he was appointed Clockmaker to the King. In 1760 he was joined in business by his son Edward and the two worked in partnership until John's death in 1772.

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