James Stratton
Director
Lot 104
A Fine late 18th century ebonised striking and repeating table clock of small size Francois-Justin Vulliamy, London, No. 215
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£10,000 - £15,000
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Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A Fine late 18th century ebonised striking and repeating table clock of small size
Francois-Justin Vulliamy, London, No. 215
The brass–mounted ebonised case surmounted by a hinged brass carrying handle over a squat inverted bell–top caddy superstructure with double cavetto top mouldings, the hinged front door with brass–fillet bordered glazed aperture and scroll–pierced sound frets to the upper quadrants. The sides with generous break–arch observation windows within complex moulded surrounds, and the back with corresponding glazed break–arch door with matching frets. All raised on a cavetto moulded skirt base with moulded gilt brass squab feet. The 6–inch silvered brass dial with Roman numerals and Arabic five–minute track to the outer ring, the centre with shaped mock pendulum and calendar apertures, and delicate scroll–pierced blued steel hands. The break–arch with twin subsidiary dials for STRIKE/SILENT and regulation, flanking the finely engraved signature Vulliamy, London. The substantial five–pillar twin fusee bell–striking movement with plates measuring 7.25 by 5.5 inches, fitted with pull–quarter repeat on a graduated nest of six bells. The going train with dead–beat type escapement with gut pallets for silent operation, regulated by a lenticular bob pendulum with transverse pivoted beam rise–and–fall adjustment to the suspension, and a hinged holdfast to the backplate. The backplate finely engraved Vulliamy, London, No. 215 within a leafy floral cartouche to the centre. 35.5cm (14ins) high with handle down.
The brass–mounted ebonised case surmounted by a hinged brass carrying handle over a squat inverted bell–top caddy superstructure with double cavetto top mouldings, the hinged front door with brass–fillet bordered glazed aperture and scroll–pierced sound frets to the upper quadrants. The sides with generous break–arch observation windows within complex moulded surrounds, and the back with corresponding glazed break–arch door with matching frets. All raised on a cavetto moulded skirt base with moulded gilt brass squab feet. The 6–inch silvered brass dial with Roman numerals and Arabic five–minute track to the outer ring, the centre with shaped mock pendulum and calendar apertures, and delicate scroll–pierced blued steel hands. The break–arch with twin subsidiary dials for STRIKE/SILENT and regulation, flanking the finely engraved signature Vulliamy, London. The substantial five–pillar twin fusee bell–striking movement with plates measuring 7.25 by 5.5 inches, fitted with pull–quarter repeat on a graduated nest of six bells. The going train with dead–beat type escapement with gut pallets for silent operation, regulated by a lenticular bob pendulum with transverse pivoted beam rise–and–fall adjustment to the suspension, and a hinged holdfast to the backplate. The backplate finely engraved Vulliamy, London, No. 215 within a leafy floral cartouche to the centre. 35.5cm (14ins) high with handle down.
Footnotes
Provenance: Previously sold at Christie's, London, The Albert Odmark Collection of Important Clocks and Watches, 11 March 2005, Lot 444.
Francois-Justin Vulliamy (1712–1797) was born in Gingins, Switzerland, and trained as a watchmaker before moving to Paris and later to London around 1730, following George Graham's invention of the cylinder escapement. In 1743 he entered into partnership with Benjamin Gray, Watchmaker in Ordinary to King George II, later marrying his daughter, Mary. After Gray's death in 1764, Vulliamy inherited the Royal Warrant and traded under his own name, later joined by his son Benjamin, whose partnership established the celebrated Vulliamy dynasty. The family maintained Royal patronage for over a century, producing clocks of exceptional quality from their Pall Mall workshops. The firm's workbooks—now in the British Horological Institute—record serial numbers only partially, leaving the original client for the present example, numbered 215, unknown. Characterised by refined proportions, crisp mouldings, and meticulous finishing, the clock's movement displays all the hallmarks of Vulliamy's craftsmanship, including a sophisticated silent escapement designed for enhanced precision.
Provenance: Previously sold at Christie's, London, The Albert Odmark Collection of Important Clocks and Watches, 11 March 2005, Lot 444.
Francois-Justin Vulliamy (1712–1797) was born in Gingins, Switzerland, and trained as a watchmaker before moving to Paris and later to London around 1730, following George Graham's invention of the cylinder escapement. In 1743 he entered into partnership with Benjamin Gray, Watchmaker in Ordinary to King George II, later marrying his daughter, Mary. After Gray's death in 1764, Vulliamy inherited the Royal Warrant and traded under his own name, later joined by his son Benjamin, whose partnership established the celebrated Vulliamy dynasty. The family maintained Royal patronage for over a century, producing clocks of exceptional quality from their Pall Mall workshops. The firm's workbooks—now in the British Horological Institute—record serial numbers only partially, leaving the original client for the present example, numbered 215, unknown. Characterised by refined proportions, crisp mouldings, and meticulous finishing, the clock's movement displays all the hallmarks of Vulliamy's craftsmanship, including a sophisticated silent escapement designed for enhanced precision.