James Stratton
Director
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Lot 91*
A fine early 18th century quarter repeating walnut marquetry inlaid table clock Francis Still, London
16 December 2015, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £37,500 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Clocks specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Clocks (UK)
A fine early 18th century quarter repeating walnut marquetry inlaid table clock
Francis Still, London
The case inlaid all over, including the mouldings to the caddy, cornice and base surmounted by a cast foliate-bud handle on a block over four urn finials, the sides set with straight-sided arched glazed panels, the moulded base on squat brass bun feet, the 6.75 inch square gilt brass dial framed by four boldly cast winged cherubs head spandrels, the strike/not strike lever set over the silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with 'cross' half-quarter marks, minute band and inner quarter hour track with fancy half hour marks, the finely matted centre with shaped mock pendulum aperture revealing the silvered and engraved mock pendulum and the signature plate, the chamfered date aperture with elaborate scroll engraved border, the twin gut (now wire) fuse movement with verge escapement on a knife edge with brass rod and pear shaped bob, rack striking the hours on a bell and repeating the quarters on a run of four bells and hammers on activation of the repeat cord to the right hand side, the crisply engraved backplate with single line border enclosing a symmetrical pattern of flowing foliate scrolls framing a cartouche signed for the maker, Fran. Still, London, the outside clicks with blued steel springs 40cms (16ins) high.
The case inlaid all over, including the mouldings to the caddy, cornice and base surmounted by a cast foliate-bud handle on a block over four urn finials, the sides set with straight-sided arched glazed panels, the moulded base on squat brass bun feet, the 6.75 inch square gilt brass dial framed by four boldly cast winged cherubs head spandrels, the strike/not strike lever set over the silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with 'cross' half-quarter marks, minute band and inner quarter hour track with fancy half hour marks, the finely matted centre with shaped mock pendulum aperture revealing the silvered and engraved mock pendulum and the signature plate, the chamfered date aperture with elaborate scroll engraved border, the twin gut (now wire) fuse movement with verge escapement on a knife edge with brass rod and pear shaped bob, rack striking the hours on a bell and repeating the quarters on a run of four bells and hammers on activation of the repeat cord to the right hand side, the crisply engraved backplate with single line border enclosing a symmetrical pattern of flowing foliate scrolls framing a cartouche signed for the maker, Fran. Still, London, the outside clicks with blued steel springs 40cms (16ins) high.
Footnotes
Provenance:
Christies 6 April 1969. Purchased by R.A. Lee.
Literature: Dawson, Drover and Parkes, Early English Clocks, Woodbridge 1982, plate 689. For a full discussion of marquetry clock cases, see Robert Donaldson, English Marquetry Table Clocks, Antiquarian Horology, June 2009, p499-516.
Francis Still was apprenticed to Robert Halstead in 1691 and gained his Freedoom in 1699. He worked on his own account from 1699 to 1710.