RICHARD CHATER, LONDON. CIRCA 1810

The case for the clock, signed by Richard Chater (d.1811), is conceived in the early 19th century Egyptian manner and embellished with Egyptian herm pilasters, whose fluted Grecian-ribbon frets reflect the fashion popularised by the architect Sir John Soane. The same patterned pilasters feature on the similar case of a clock signed by the London Bridge clock-maker John Sharpe (fl. 1812 - 1830) (sold by The Hon. Clive and Anne Gibson, Sotheby's London, 15 September 2000, lot 148). A related Egyptian-hermed bracket-clock, also with pointed-arch case and Grecian-stepped cornice, is in the collection of the Bank of England. Its movement is signed by the firm of Brockbank and Atkins, established in 1815 (M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1965, p. 99, fig. 238).

The brother of a clockmaker, Richard Chater was apprenticed in 1774 and Free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1781. In 1803 he was appointed a Liveryman.