James Stratton
Director
Lot 79*
A good early 18th century ebony veneered quarter repeating table clock Obadiah Gardiner, London
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
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Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A good early 18th century ebony veneered quarter repeating table clock
Obadiah Gardiner, London
The case surmounted by a brass knopped carrying handle over an inverted bell top with moulded surround, the front door with finely pierced sound frets backed in old silk and framed by moulded borders, the left side with an elaborately decorated escutcheon depicting a green man mask, the sides with glazed observation windows, and the rear with similar escutcheon, raised on a moulded base on block feet. The 6.5-inch brass dial with silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring and floating lozenge half-hour markers, the matted centre with mock pendulum aperture above an oval silvered nameplate signed Obadiah Gardiner, London, with a decorated calendar aperture and finely blued steel hands, all framed by cast brass spandrels above foliate engraving with pendulum rise-and-fall and strike/silent dials in the break arch. The movement with five knopped pillars, verge escapement, and short bob pendulum regulated by a finely engraved rise-and-fall mechanism, the backplate secured by wheat-ear engraved brackets and engraved overall with foliate scrolls, budding flowers, and acanthus leaves, the centre depicting a winged cherub above a basket of fruit framed by birds chasing butterflies and signed within a central name cartouche Obadiah Gardiner, London, the lower section depicting an impish head. The upper left with engraved cam and spring for the pull-quarter repeat, repeating on a pair of polished bells mounted above the movement and striking the hours via a rack and snail mechanism on the same bell. Currently ticking, striking, and repeating. 48cms (19ins) high.
The case surmounted by a brass knopped carrying handle over an inverted bell top with moulded surround, the front door with finely pierced sound frets backed in old silk and framed by moulded borders, the left side with an elaborately decorated escutcheon depicting a green man mask, the sides with glazed observation windows, and the rear with similar escutcheon, raised on a moulded base on block feet. The 6.5-inch brass dial with silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring and floating lozenge half-hour markers, the matted centre with mock pendulum aperture above an oval silvered nameplate signed Obadiah Gardiner, London, with a decorated calendar aperture and finely blued steel hands, all framed by cast brass spandrels above foliate engraving with pendulum rise-and-fall and strike/silent dials in the break arch. The movement with five knopped pillars, verge escapement, and short bob pendulum regulated by a finely engraved rise-and-fall mechanism, the backplate secured by wheat-ear engraved brackets and engraved overall with foliate scrolls, budding flowers, and acanthus leaves, the centre depicting a winged cherub above a basket of fruit framed by birds chasing butterflies and signed within a central name cartouche Obadiah Gardiner, London, the lower section depicting an impish head. The upper left with engraved cam and spring for the pull-quarter repeat, repeating on a pair of polished bells mounted above the movement and striking the hours via a rack and snail mechanism on the same bell. Currently ticking, striking, and repeating. 48cms (19ins) high.