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Lot 158W
A late 19th century mahogany astronomical table regulator with passing strike every minute Dancer, Manchester
12 December 2012, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,125 inc. premium
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A late 19th century mahogany astronomical table regulator with passing strike every minute
Dancer, Manchester
The plain arched case raised on a plinth base, with a removeable panel beneath the signed 8 inch 24-hour dial with subsidiary seconds dial above XII, the centre inscribed "Meam non tuam noscis" (Thou knowest my hour, but not thine own), the movement attributed to Evans of Handsworth, with fusee and maintainting power to the pivoted detent escapement mounted on the backplate, and passing minute strike on a bell, mounted on the tapered plates united by four plain pillars, the wooden rod pendulum with a cylindrical pewter bob and rating nut, fixed by a simple steady-rod. Removing the panel set below the dial allows the user to turn the minute striking facility on or off. 51cm (20in)
The plain arched case raised on a plinth base, with a removeable panel beneath the signed 8 inch 24-hour dial with subsidiary seconds dial above XII, the centre inscribed "Meam non tuam noscis" (Thou knowest my hour, but not thine own), the movement attributed to Evans of Handsworth, with fusee and maintainting power to the pivoted detent escapement mounted on the backplate, and passing minute strike on a bell, mounted on the tapered plates united by four plain pillars, the wooden rod pendulum with a cylindrical pewter bob and rating nut, fixed by a simple steady-rod. Removing the panel set below the dial allows the user to turn the minute striking facility on or off. 51cm (20in)
Footnotes
Literature:
Front cover of Antiquarian Horology, March 1964.
Alfred Thomas: A table regulator signed Dancer, Manchester, Antiquarian Horology, December 2010.
Further reading: Wetton john Benjamin Dancer: Manchester Instrument Maker, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, vol 29, 1991, 4-8.
W.Browning, The Autobiography of John Benjamin Dancer, FRAS.....Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Vol 107 (1964-1965)
John Benjamin Dancer (1812-1887) was a very influential maker in the world of scientific instruments, photography and, fusing the two, micro-photography. As well as a highly regarded maker and retailer of other philosophical, optical and nautical instruments, he was a keen amateur astronomer. He built an observatory at 6 Limefield Terrace, Manchester in 1841, in 1855 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. As far as we are aware, no other clock signed by Dancer exists, and it is quite possible that this was intended for his personal use during his observations.