English Weird July part 2 : English going barrel carriage clock

[zedric]

OK, so part 2 - another clock I thought I couldn't afford. This one is an English made carriage clock. Never seen the shores of France. English carriage clocks are rare, they are almost always one-offs in contrast to the French mass-produced carriage clocks. I have a couple of English fusee carriage clocks, but English-made going barrel carriage clocks are much more rare (and less valuable) than their fusee counterparts. In three years of looking, I hadn't seen one at auction. So imagine my surprise when this one turned up, with the auctioneer listing it as a 20th century French clock.



As the clock was for sale in the UK, I asked the auctioneer for photos of the clock and movement so I could see what I was potentially buying. Unfortunately when they reassembled the clock after taking the photos, they must have damaged the hands, as these were intact in the photos. I would be upset, but the extremely low price and the free packing by the auctioneer means I can't hold it against them.

Anyway, the clock is heavily gilt brass, with a handle typical of some of the smaller English clocks. The case is machine engraved, and there is a seconds bit, unusual in carriage clocks. The rear "door" is in fact a panel which can be removed by sliding a latch, to reveal the backplate of the clock. The going barrel is clearly visible, as is the platform for the English underslung lever escapement. I'll take some more photos later in the week when I take the case apart for cleaning, but it is remarkably well preserved.

For fun, I've photographed the clock along with some of my other English clocks, and one French one which pre-dates all the others.

 

[novicetimekeeper]

Is that a Thomas Cole strut clock?

 

[zedric]

Yes. The engraving is every bit as good as it is made out to be. Quite how someone could make that many lines in the background so close together, without any of them merging into each other, and all done by hand, I will never know. Mine was made for CF Hancock and is named 1092/133. That one I bought from Italy, where they didn’t seem to recognise the maker.

 

[novicetimekeeper]

Yes. The engraving is every bit as good as it is made out to be. Quite how someone could make that many lines in the background so close together, without any of them merging into each other, and all done by hand, I will never know. Mine was made for CF Hancock and is named 1092/133. That one I bought from Italy, where they didn’t seem to recognise the maker.

That was good then, they go for a bomb when they appear here. I bid on a longcase by his Dad once.

 

[zedric]

Yes. I have a absolute limit on any purchase, which is that customs duty kicks in when you import items over Au$1000. That includes the hammer price, buyers premium and the shipping costs. So everything with the exception of my longcase and bracket clocks was bought with that in mind. I’ve only crossed the line a couple of times for special items.

 

[zedric]

Here is a close-up of the engraving on the Cole clock, first the dial, which is under 4 in tall, then a close-up using z 15x loupe of the area around the minute hand, showing the incredible detail in the engraving.



Coming back to your comment about the longcase, I didn't think there were that many known clocks by his father?

 

[novicetimekeeper]

Beautiful. I have only seen a couple of clocks by his Dad.

 

[zedric]

OK, so here are some images of the movement of the going barrel clock. No maker's name anywhere on the movement as far as I can see. Movement has six spoke wheel work, screwed pillars, etc..

 

[Incroyable]

These English carriage clocks are quite strange.

I've come across other unsigned ones in very similar if not the same case design as well as one by James Ferguson Cole also in this almost exact case design.

Bonhams : A fine and rare second quarter of the 19th century gilt brass carriage timepiece James F. Cole, No. 1 Maddox St., Regent Street, London

James F. Cole, No. 1 Maddox St., Regent Street, London The case surmounted by a stylised facetted Greek key handle with four ribbed mushroom finials above slender Doric columns to octagonal feet, the sides, top and front panels all engine turned, the rear panel patinated and with rotating...

www.bonhams.com

The quality and workmanship are really top notch and clearly was London work but who made these movements and for whom? The cases are also clearly handmade with rather fine engine turning versus the mass production factory work of the French clocks. They also all seem to have these removable back panels with a large round shutter and a sort of latch.

I wonder if one workshop was crafting these cases? Given the highly specialized segmentation of the English watch industry this wouldn't surprise me.