A GEORGE II STRKING LONGCASE CLOCK WITH BAROMETER

Details

JOHN ELLICOTT, LONDON, CIRCA 1740
A GEORGE II STRKING LONGCASE CLOCK WITH BAROMETER
CASE: the walnut-veneered case with chequer line inlay, the arched hood with later caddy top with three brass flambeau vase finials, with gilt-brass stop-fluted three-quarter and quarter columns to the angles, glazed sides and door, the trunk door inset with wheel barometer, on a stepped plinth and skirted foot
BAROMETER: the 8 inch glazed dial with matted centre, the silvered chapter ring engraved with weather indications 'Stormy / Much Rain / Rain / Changeable / Fair / Very Dry' and temperature indications '28 - 31', pierced blued steel hands, the recording hand operated by knob below the dial, the siphon barometer tube set into the oak door carcass and covered by a panel
DIAL: the 12 inch dial plate with 'Strike / Silent' indication ring to the arch flanked by foliate and dolphin spandrels, the silvered chapter ring with Roman hours and Arabic five minutes and signed to the lower edge 'John Ellicott / London', the matted centre with date aperture and subsidiary seconds ring, blued steel hands, the pierced spandrels with eagles flanking a fruiting vase with lambrequin below
MOVEMENT: the eight-day twin-train movement with plates joined by five knopped pillars, with recoil anchor escapement, strikework mounted to the front plate and striking a bell above with indistinct inked inscription to underneath, brass and steel pulleys, two brass cased weights, brass rod pendulum with brass cased weighted bob, the seatboard on cheekboards with later packing to tops
Walnut, brass
106 in. (269.3 cm.) high; 21 1⁄4 in. (54 cm.) wide; 10 1⁄2 in. (26.6 cm.) deep

Provenance

Anonymous sale [Mrs Vesey]; Christie's, London, 11 October 1962, lot 9, to Goodison (£157.10s).

Literature

N. Goodison, English Barometers 1680-1860, London, 1968, pp. 132-3, pls. 72-3.
N. Goodison, English Barometers 1680-1860, Woodbridge 1977, p. 144, pls. 86-7.

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

awalker@christies.com +44 20 7389 2085

Lot Essay

John Ellicott F.R.S. (1706-1772) was the son of John Ellicott, a London watchmaker who was himself the son of a watchmaker from Bodmin, Cornwall. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1738 and was later appointed Clockmaker to George III. Clocks incorporating barometers are rare. A similar clock by Ellicott, but with a moon-phase sphere to the dial arch, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (W.107:1-1962).
Sir Nicholas Goodison noted: Clocks with very similar movements and cases exist by Richard Peckover and by John Cowell, but not with the barometer in the door. This clock lacked its caddy top to the hood when bought in 1962, probably taken off by a previous owner when the clock proved too high for their ceilings. It was not until 2007 that it was possible to restore the hood and copy the caddy top from a related clock by Richard Peckover, which also had the rare feature of a barometer mounted to the trunk door (Dealing in Excellence: A Celebration of Hotspur and Jeremy, Christie's, London 20 November 2008, lot 141).

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