James Stratton
Director
Lot 82
A good late 17th century ebony veneered quarter repeating table Charles Gretton, London
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£6,000 - £8,000
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Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A good late 17th century ebony veneered quarter repeating table
Charles Gretton, London
The case surmounted by a foliate brass bud handle on cast flowerheads over a plain caddy with a moulded top, the front door with pierced sound fret backed in purple silk and a brass escutcheon, the sides with rectangular glazed observation windows, on a moulded base and four brass bun feet. The 7-inch brass dial with four subsidiary dials, the top left for marked N/S and to strik or not strik (sic), the top right for pendulum rise and fall marked 0-60 and engraved to go faster or slower; the two lower dials for locking the pendulum engraved to fassen ye swing (sic) and fast/loose,
all surrounded by foliate engraving and signed Charles Gretton London in two separate cartouches. The silvered chapter ring with Roman and Arabic numerals intercepted by fancy cruciform half-hour markers, the centre with mock pendulum aperture and a rare recessed calendar with wheatear border. The movement with robust plates united by five knopped pillars, powered by a pair of gut fusees, striking via a rack and snail and repeating the quarters past the hour on a pair of bells mounted above the plates, with hour striking on a single bell. The backplate finely engraved with symmetrical foliate decoration within a wheatear border, signed in a central name cartouche Cha Gretton London. Ticking, striking and repeating. 43cms (17ins) high.
The case surmounted by a foliate brass bud handle on cast flowerheads over a plain caddy with a moulded top, the front door with pierced sound fret backed in purple silk and a brass escutcheon, the sides with rectangular glazed observation windows, on a moulded base and four brass bun feet. The 7-inch brass dial with four subsidiary dials, the top left for marked N/S and to strik or not strik (sic), the top right for pendulum rise and fall marked 0-60 and engraved to go faster or slower; the two lower dials for locking the pendulum engraved to fassen ye swing (sic) and fast/loose,
all surrounded by foliate engraving and signed Charles Gretton London in two separate cartouches. The silvered chapter ring with Roman and Arabic numerals intercepted by fancy cruciform half-hour markers, the centre with mock pendulum aperture and a rare recessed calendar with wheatear border. The movement with robust plates united by five knopped pillars, powered by a pair of gut fusees, striking via a rack and snail and repeating the quarters past the hour on a pair of bells mounted above the plates, with hour striking on a single bell. The backplate finely engraved with symmetrical foliate decoration within a wheatear border, signed in a central name cartouche Cha Gretton London. Ticking, striking and repeating. 43cms (17ins) high.
Footnotes
The pendulum holdfast system is rare in this clock in that it uses only a single steel arm in the lower left hand side to secure the lenticular brass bob. Rather than have an un-symmetrical dial, however, Gretton has gone to the trouble of mounting a matching hand and dial to the right hand side, with a steel rod linkage.
Charles Gretton (1647/48–1731) was born in Claypole, Lincolnshire, to Charles and Agnes Gretton. After being baptized on 24 January 1647, he left home at the age of 14 to serve under Humphrey Downing in London. His career flourished during the Golden Age of English Clockmaking, with Gretton becoming a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in 1672. Over his career, he produced numerous clocks and watches, including longcase clocks, spring clocks, and complex repeating watches. He was known for his innovative use of marquetry, casework, and striking mechanisms.
Gretton contributed significantly to the clockmaking community through his philanthropy, founding a fund for orphaned clockmaker apprentices and establishing a school for poor boys in Claypole. He remained active in civic life and the Clockmakers' Company until his death on 25 June 1731.
Literature: This clock is discussed and illustrated in Radage, D. et al (2016) Charles Gretton Clock & Watchmaking through the Golden Age. Vancouver: Three o'clock Publishing., item SC38, pages 368-371.