A William and Mary miniature ebonised grande sonnerie eight day table clock with pull repeat
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A William and Mary miniature ebonised grande sonnerie eight day table clock with pull repeat

JONATHAN PULLER, LONDON. CIRCA 1690

Details
A William and Mary miniature ebonised grande sonnerie eight day table clock with pull repeat
Jonathan Puller, London. Circa 1690
The case with small foliate handle to the cushion moulded top flanked by four gilt-metal foliate urn finials, the front door with pierced brass fret to the top rail, similar frets to the sides, the case now extended to rear and with later rear door and set on later base with turned feet, the 5in. square dial signed Jonathan Puller London below the silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with three-prong half hour makers, finely sculpted blued steel hands (minute part lacking), matted centre with calendar square, later mock pendulum aperture and winged cherub spandrels, slots for twin levers (now lacking) above XII for strike/silent for the two strike trains, latches to the dial feet and to seven of the eight ring-turned pillars of the triple fusee movement with internal steel rack, (losses and adaptions to under dial work), split front plate and trip repeat via two inter-connecting steel levers secured to the backplate signed Jonathan Puller, Londini, Fecit within a foliate cartouche with further foliate engraving and wheatear border, striking and repeating on later rear mounted gongs
11 in. (28 cm.), 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

Jonathan Puller was born circa 1662 and apprenticed to Nicholas Coxeter, being passed over to John Miller on Coxeter's death in 1679. He was made Free of the Clockmakers' Company in September 1683 and over the next twenty four years of his career he is recorded as having employed eight apprentices. He was made Assistant in 1701 and attended Court until 1707, when he is presumed to have died.
Miniature table clocks from the late 17th Century are rare and, not withstanding the obvious and somewhat eccentric alterations/additions it has sustained, this clock is a remarkable survival. For a clock of this size to incorporate a three train split-plate movement demonstrates Puller's great skill. The style of the dial, with its three-prong half hour markers and finely chased cherub spandrels, combined with the slender latched and ringed movement pillars are all reminiscent of the work of Joseph Knibb. The likeness is perhaps not surprising; Puller's master, John Miller (d.1702), was apprenticed first to Samuel Knibb (d.1670) and then bound over to Joseph Knibb (d.1711). The few examples extant of Miller's work have a marked 'Knibb' style and it is probable that some of the Knibb influence rubbed off on his own apprentice.
The present clock bears close comparison with a miniature three train table clock by Jonathan Puller sold at Christie's London, Important Clocks and Marine Chronometers, 14 June 2000, lot 74. That clock also had a split front plate, and the dial (excepting the later mock pendulum aperture on this clock) is remarkably similar, as is the back plate engraving and the Tompionesque system of repeating on two interconnecting levers.

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