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Lot 68
An important 'First Period' brass lantern clock William Bowyer, Leadenhall Street, London. Originally bought by John, 6th Earl of Rothes, possibly in 1626.
11 December 2019, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £43,812.50 inc. premium
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An important 'First Period' brass lantern clock
William Bowyer, Leadenhall Street, London. Originally bought by John, 6th Earl of Rothes, possibly in 1626.
The frame:
The brass posted frame surmounted by a large bell cast with an integral lug for suspension through the centre of the brass X-frame support, (the interior of the bell with possible indistinct bell-founders mark?), the strap with chamfered edges and terminals set with pins locating into each of the four boldly turned squat urn finials mounted on tapering Doric columns on ribbed acorn feet, the pierced brass front fret signed along its lower edge 'JOHNNE EARLE OF ROTHESS', with matching (unsigned) side frets. (Side doors and backplate now lacking)
The dial:
The Roman chapter ring 6 inches in diameter and 7/8ths of an inch in width, with single line border framing the narrow numerals around a quarter hour track with star half hour markers, with pierced iron hand, the dial centre engraved with six panels of interlaced foliage separated by smaller tapering sections of engraved stylised wheatear spikes, the corners shaped to fit the profile of the pillar capitals, bases and decorated with shaded leaves, signed along the lower edge 'William Bowyer in Ledenhall Street fecit', the last word running upwards into the corner.
The movement:
The weight-driven movement with separate going and striking trains mounted one behind the other, each of three brass wheels with four crossings on steel arbors, the verge escapement to a plain brass single-armed balance, the strike train operated via an iron countwheel mounted to the rear, it's locking detent pivoted in a raised part of the cast rear crosspiece and dropping into a filed-back recess, typical of the early Bowyer/Harvey/Stevens workshops, the hammer counter is plain with a chamfered edge, the hammer spring plain and tapered. To the top of the lug 34cms (13ins) high.
The frame:
The brass posted frame surmounted by a large bell cast with an integral lug for suspension through the centre of the brass X-frame support, (the interior of the bell with possible indistinct bell-founders mark?), the strap with chamfered edges and terminals set with pins locating into each of the four boldly turned squat urn finials mounted on tapering Doric columns on ribbed acorn feet, the pierced brass front fret signed along its lower edge 'JOHNNE EARLE OF ROTHESS', with matching (unsigned) side frets. (Side doors and backplate now lacking)
The dial:
The Roman chapter ring 6 inches in diameter and 7/8ths of an inch in width, with single line border framing the narrow numerals around a quarter hour track with star half hour markers, with pierced iron hand, the dial centre engraved with six panels of interlaced foliage separated by smaller tapering sections of engraved stylised wheatear spikes, the corners shaped to fit the profile of the pillar capitals, bases and decorated with shaded leaves, signed along the lower edge 'William Bowyer in Ledenhall Street fecit', the last word running upwards into the corner.
The movement:
The weight-driven movement with separate going and striking trains mounted one behind the other, each of three brass wheels with four crossings on steel arbors, the verge escapement to a plain brass single-armed balance, the strike train operated via an iron countwheel mounted to the rear, it's locking detent pivoted in a raised part of the cast rear crosspiece and dropping into a filed-back recess, typical of the early Bowyer/Harvey/Stevens workshops, the hammer counter is plain with a chamfered edge, the hammer spring plain and tapered. To the top of the lug 34cms (13ins) high.
Footnotes
William Bowyer, was the son of Ralph Bowyer of Warfield, Berkshire and was most probably born in the 1590s. He was one of the most prolific producers of lantern clocks, which implies he had a considerable workforce. He appears not to have joined the Clockmaker's Company though he did subscribe £5 towards the charter in 1630 and did take apprentices through that company from 1638. In 1630 he was made free of the City. He is said to have married Margery Barlow of Lichfield, Staffordshire, but the exact date is unknown. He worked in Leadenhall Street, where he may have been succeeded about 1655 by his former apprentice, Francis Bowen.
Literature:
White, G. (1989). English Lantern Clocks. Suffolk: The Antique Collectors' Club, Figures II/5 and II/6.
John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes (1600-1641), was a leading light in the Scottish Covenanters Party - a group who fiercely opposed Charles I's ecclesiastical policies in their home country. He visited London in 1626 and it is likely that he bought this clock on that visit. Twelve years later he was part of the group that seized Newcastle and this led him to travel to London in 1638 for negotiations with the King. His last visit lasted three years.
Provenance:
Aubrey Brocklehurst, FBHI, 124 Cromwell Road, London, SW7. 20th July 1968 for the sum of £85-0-0.
A related lantern clock, the earliest dated English example, was sold in these rooms 11th July 2018, lot 60. It is signed and dated William Bowyer, 1617 and uses the same shaped rear crosspiece with its filed back section to allow for the fall of the detent locking lever.
Although the mark inside the bell is not conclusive, it is worth noting that White notes a casting mark inside a heavy bell on a First Period lantern clock by Bowyer, illustrated op. cit. Fig. II/34.