James Stratton
Director
Lot 75
A very fine and rare third quarter of the 17th century architectural ebony table clock with Science Museum Exhibition provenance Edward East, London. The movement attributable to Samuel Knibb.
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£60,000 - £80,000
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Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A very fine and rare third quarter of the 17th century architectural ebony table clock with Science Museum Exhibition provenance
Edward East, London. The movement attributable to Samuel Knibb.
The case surmounted by an architectural pediment with finely moulded cornice, the recessed tympanum centred by a single oval gilt mount cast with a pair of standing figures framing a vacant cartouche, over an unadorned entablature raised on spirally twisted Corinthian columns, of three-quarter form to the front and quarter-form to the rear, all with original capitals and bases, the sides with long glazed panels within finely moulded frames, the front door with matching inner moulded frame and 'upside down' lock, the solid rear door with (broken) lock and applied to the inside with two labels relating to the 1955 auction at Sotheby's and subsequent Exhibition in The Science Museum, London, 1964, raised on an inverted breakfront base centred by a deep drawer with ring handle in the form of a Pan mask, each column resting on a pedestal base with moulded top and bottom, further raised on squat bun feet.
The 8-inch gilt-brass dial framed by four exceptionally cast and finished cherub-head spandrels, signed in flowing copperplate script to the lower edge Eduardus East Londini. The narrow silvered chapter ring with Arabic minute track (each double digit uninterrupted, and the 1's of the 'J' form), enclosing the bold Roman hour numerals intercepted by fleur-de-lys half-hour markers emanating from the quarter-hour track. The finely matted centre with chamfered calendar aperture above the VI o'clock position, the matted bolt-and-shutter maintaining power shutters operated via a pull cord on the right hand side of the clock. The finely finished blued steel hands of R.A. Lee Oxford type.
The substantial movement with split front plates, united by nine latched and pinned pillars, resting on a pair of rectangular blocks nailed to the seatboard and carrying a pair of latched brass swing-catches approximately 6cms long and terminating in shaped ends echoing the profile of the movement latches. The twin gut fusees each with decorative brass spring to the internal steel click, now running on wire lines; the going train with bolt-and-shutter maintaining power and knife-edge verge escapement with bud-form apron and engraved detail, supporting a short pendulum with pear shaped bob mounted on a threaded lower piece, the crown wheel bottom potance with distinctive shaping in the form of a tulip bud, the upper potance similarly shaped. The strike train with shaped steel hammer spring mounted behind the fusee and inverted S shaped stop, sounding on a deep bell supported on a steel stand with shaped foot.
The backplate framed by a single line border enclosing an engraved scheme of flowers and foliage emanating from a central bud at the base, signed in an upward curve across the lower half Eduardus East Londini, the small countwheel set in the upper right corner engraved with a Tudor rose and numbered 1–12. Sold with a later front door key, and a 17th century style pierced and engraved winding key. Ticking and striking. 50.5cms (20ins) high.
The case surmounted by an architectural pediment with finely moulded cornice, the recessed tympanum centred by a single oval gilt mount cast with a pair of standing figures framing a vacant cartouche, over an unadorned entablature raised on spirally twisted Corinthian columns, of three-quarter form to the front and quarter-form to the rear, all with original capitals and bases, the sides with long glazed panels within finely moulded frames, the front door with matching inner moulded frame and 'upside down' lock, the solid rear door with (broken) lock and applied to the inside with two labels relating to the 1955 auction at Sotheby's and subsequent Exhibition in The Science Museum, London, 1964, raised on an inverted breakfront base centred by a deep drawer with ring handle in the form of a Pan mask, each column resting on a pedestal base with moulded top and bottom, further raised on squat bun feet.
The 8-inch gilt-brass dial framed by four exceptionally cast and finished cherub-head spandrels, signed in flowing copperplate script to the lower edge Eduardus East Londini. The narrow silvered chapter ring with Arabic minute track (each double digit uninterrupted, and the 1's of the 'J' form), enclosing the bold Roman hour numerals intercepted by fleur-de-lys half-hour markers emanating from the quarter-hour track. The finely matted centre with chamfered calendar aperture above the VI o'clock position, the matted bolt-and-shutter maintaining power shutters operated via a pull cord on the right hand side of the clock. The finely finished blued steel hands of R.A. Lee Oxford type.
The substantial movement with split front plates, united by nine latched and pinned pillars, resting on a pair of rectangular blocks nailed to the seatboard and carrying a pair of latched brass swing-catches approximately 6cms long and terminating in shaped ends echoing the profile of the movement latches. The twin gut fusees each with decorative brass spring to the internal steel click, now running on wire lines; the going train with bolt-and-shutter maintaining power and knife-edge verge escapement with bud-form apron and engraved detail, supporting a short pendulum with pear shaped bob mounted on a threaded lower piece, the crown wheel bottom potance with distinctive shaping in the form of a tulip bud, the upper potance similarly shaped. The strike train with shaped steel hammer spring mounted behind the fusee and inverted S shaped stop, sounding on a deep bell supported on a steel stand with shaped foot.
The backplate framed by a single line border enclosing an engraved scheme of flowers and foliage emanating from a central bud at the base, signed in an upward curve across the lower half Eduardus East Londini, the small countwheel set in the upper right corner engraved with a Tudor rose and numbered 1–12. Sold with a later front door key, and a 17th century style pierced and engraved winding key. Ticking and striking. 50.5cms (20ins) high.
Footnotes
Provenance: The Carl Barnes Collection
This clock signed by Edward East appears at first glance to be a conventional clock by that highly respected maker. However, the execution of the movement—featuring a split frontplate, lightened wheelwork, and a distinctively Knibb-style hammer spring and potence—suggests an entirely different hand at work. The dial and engraving conform to East's known style, yet the movement bears multiple hallmarks associated with Samuel Knibb, as supported by close comparisons with three other clocks signed by Samuel Knibb, in 2011 a clock sold in these rooms signed by East has now been attributed to Samuel Knibb by Richard Newton in Antiquarian Horology (March 2024). The identical format of the potence, the characteristic backcock with a single securing screw, and the unusually delicate matting of the dial all reinforce the attribution.
This convergence of stylistic and structural details offers compelling evidence that this clock is the result of collaboration between East and Samuel Knibb—perhaps commissioned or retailed by East but constructed by Knibb. If so, it represents an important addition to the corpus of clocks by Knibb and significantly expands our understanding of his workshop interactions in the late 1660s. It also underlines how attribution in seventeenth-century horology must consider not only dial signatures but also movement architecture and workshop practice. As such, the present clock must be regarded as a rare and sophisticated example of Samuel Knibb's craftsmanship—his name absent from the dial, but unmistakably engraved in the mechanical language of the movement itself.
Samuel Knibb (1625–c.1670) remains an enigmatic but crucial figure in the early development of English clockmaking during the Restoration period. While less documented than his cousins Joseph and John Knibb, his work is no less significant. A member of the celebrated Knibb horological dynasty, Samuel was the third son of John Knibb of Claydon and Warborough. He began his professional life in Newport Pagnell before relocating to London, where he was admitted to The Clockmakers' Company by redemption in 1663. Samuel's association with the scientific instrument maker Henry Sutton—evidenced by their signed collaborative instruments, including an armillary sphere in the Science Museum, London (Inv. No. 1928-95)—demonstrates his skill beyond horology and suggests a deep involvement in the intellectual ferment of Restoration science and craftsmanship.
Though only five clocks signed by Samuel Knibb are currently known, their ambitious construction and refined aesthetics indicate the work of a maker deeply familiar with the latest technological and stylistic developments of the era. It is certain that Samuel was a guiding light in the very early years of the Golden Age. This excpetional piece adds to our understanding of this important period and opens up the possibilities for futher attributions.
Provenance:
Sotheby's on 15 July 1955 (Lot 25) and
Sold again at Sotheby's Chester 16 March 1990
Exhibited:
Science Museum, London, May 1964. Collector's Pieces Clocks and Watches, item number 25.
Literature: A clock with a comparable case design is illustrated in Cescinsky:The Old English Master Clockmakers and Their Clocks, p. 123. Another example, with a different movement but housed in a similarly styled case, is shown on plate 15 in H. Alan Lloyd's Old Clocks. A further closely related clock by Edward East, dated circa 1675, is illustrated by Cescinsky in Old English Master Clockmakers, fig. 182.