26 24th September 2011 auction reports Terence Ryle reports
OVER the course of the 130 clocks offered in their 156-lot September 6 sale, Dreweatts covered a pretty broad horological history over three centuries leaving the assessment of the market in autumn 2011 as being rather better than just ticking over.
The well-chronicled decade-long
dive in price for longcase clocks does continue. Apart from ‘Golden Age’ works by the likes of Tompion and Fromanteel which have their own market, longcases are closely associated with the furniture market, explains Dreweatts specialist Leighton Gillibrand. And, like furniture, they are fetching
half the sort of money that was seen in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Many on offer here at Donnington
Priory were a considerable step up in quality from the likes of commonplace Victorian, or, indeed, late Georgian clocks one can acquire at around the £1000 mark at provincial auctions, and most got away at estimates ranging from around £3500 to £7000. Even so, these were often less than half the sums they would have commanded ten years ago. To balance that, however, the demand
for good table clocks and bracket clocks continues to surge ahead. Leading the day by a distance was
a Charles II walnut table clock, c.1675- 80, engraved to the backplate with the signature John Wise, Londini fecit. Wise is well known for longcase
clocks and lantern clocks but table clocks are extremely rare. The seven double baluster-turned latched pillar twin- fusee movement with bolt-and-shutter maintaining power was housed in a 14½in (37cm) tall case. Illustrated on this page, the clock,
which now has an anchor escapement, was a ‘family piece’ entered by an Oxfordshire gentleman. Against a £20,000-30,000 estimate, it sold at £48,000, going, like most of the clocks, to a private buyer. “It had a couple of obvious Victorian
alterations but these could easily be reversed,” said Mr Gillibrand. “It hadn’t been mucked around with
as so many early clocks have been and another attraction was that the walnut – rather than ebony – case was very similar to a Phase 1 case for a Knibb clock. Of course, if it had been Knibb it would have gone for £100,000.” Another major name among the table
clocks was Daniel Delander, whose fame is based more on his small precision longcases with duplex escapements. Signed to the backplate and the
arched cartouche in the dial Delander, London, it had a six-pillar striking
The good times still roll on the tables…
Right: walnut table clock by John Wise, London 1675-80 – £48,000 at Dreweatts.
A brief history of time... 2
3 4
1
Five of the clocks across three centuries offered at Dreweatts’ September sale… 1: Late 16th century forged iron domestic ‘great chamber’ clock movement, probably German or Swiss, 17½in (44.5cm) high. Two-train movement originally with verge and foliate regulation now with verge and short pendulum. Sold with forged iron bell bearer of similar date, with top-pivoted hammer and lugged bell – estimate £2000-3000. Dreweatts specialist Leighton Gillibrand says that there is increasing interest in early horology and this example sold to a collector at £9500. 2: The oldest and costliest of seven late 17th and early 18th century lantern clocks in the sale, including one by Daniel Quare, this c.1680 example signed by Richard Ames, London, in the standard London third period ‘Lothbury’ frame, 15in (38cm) high took a mid- estimate £5500.
movement with a rise/fall regulation for the verge escapement and a pull quarter repeat on six graduated bells. The elegant 16½in (42cm) case,
perhaps dating to very shortly after the import duty on mahogany was lifted in 1727, had some losses to the veneer, but the clock had no trouble leaving a £5000-8000 estimate behind to sell at £22,000. The clocks section opened with 11
19th century French brass miniature or full-scale carriage clocks, four of which were among the 20 failures among all the clocks, the rest bringing predictable three-figure bids. A more positive French contribution
was a 19th century gilt-brass table clock modelled as German Renaissance
5
3: c.1725 ebonised table clock, 17½in (45cm) high excluding handle, signed by Andrew Dunlop, London, with five-finned twin fusee movement with bell and pull quarter repeat on six bells and alarm sounding on the hour bell – estimate £3000-5000, sold at £3500. 4: c.1800, brass-mounted mahogany quarter chiming musical clock, 2ft 4in (66cm) high signed by John Taylor, London, with six-pillar triple-fusee movement chiming a choice of two phrases for the quarters on eight bells and completing the tune on the hour – estimate £5500-6500, sold at £8500. 5: a late 19th century unsigned gilt-brass-mounted quarter chiming bracket clock with four-pillar, triple-fusee movement with anchor escapement chiming a choice of four tunes on eight bells on the quarters and striking the hour on a gong, 3ft (92cm) tall – estimate £1800-2500, sold at £2200.
Turmchenuhr, a square turret surmounted by a domed rotunda supported by a double gallery. The dial featured a demi-lune aperture
on a 24-hour disc acting as the hour hand. The eight-day, two-train, gong- striking movement had a medallion Vincenti & Cie Medaille D’Argant 1865 and the backplate was stamped Planchon, Palais-Royal. An impressive 2ft 1½in (65cm)
high, the ornately decorated clock was estimated at £2500-3500 but it was, said Mr Gillibrand “of superb quality, possibly an exhibition piece” and it sold to a collector at £9000. Best seller among the longcases was
just that – a longcase without dial or movement. Illustrated on these pages,
the c.1680 walnut and oyster laburnum marquetry case stood 6ft 4in (1.93cm) high. “Cases of this quality without
movements are extremely rare,” said Mr Gillibrand who estimated it at £12,000- 15,000 and saw it sell at £13,000 to a private buyer. The following lot was a c.1680
longcase clock movement with 10in (25cm) square brass dial. Featuring a six-finned pillar outside countwheel bell striking movement with anchor escapement, it was unsigned. Tom Robinson’s The Longcase Clock suggests such anonymous movements were made by journeymen or makers who were not Freemen of the Clockmakers’ Company and so not authorised to sign their work.
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