A CHARLES II EBONY STRIKING BRACKET CLOCK

CIRCA 1685, BY THOMAS TOMPION, LONDON, UNNUMBERED

Details

A CHARLES II EBONY STRIKING BRACKET CLOCK
Circa 1685, by Thomas Tompion, London, unnumbered
The case with domed top with foliate-tied handle and foliate-cast mounts, gilt-metal foliate escutcheons to the front door, the 6 inch square gilt-brass dial signed THOMAS TOMPION LONDINI FECIT beneath the silvered chapter ring with sword-hilt half-hour markers and typically pierced blued steel hands, the matted center with calendar aperture with pin-hole adjustment, winged cherub spandrels, latches to the dial feet and to the seven ringed pillars, twin gut fusees, re-built verge escapement, strike on bell with internal numbered countwheel fixed to the fusee and with chamfered backplate window, the backplate profusely engraved with tulips and scrolling foliage, signed THOMAS TOMPION LONDINI FECIT with a rectangular reserve
14in. (35.5cm.) high, 9in. (24cm.) wide, 6in. (15cm.) deep

Lot Essay

This particular clock was made just before Tompion introduced his numbering system circa 1635. The window cut into the backplate allowing an observer or clockmaker to tell which hour last struck is a feature found on a limited number of his pre-numbered bracket clocks. Similar examples can be found in R.W. Symonds, Thomas Tompion, His Life and Work,. Batsford, 1951, pp. 144 & 191, figs. 103, 108, 109, 169 & 170.