Dreweatts 1759
Lot 318
A George I walnut eight-day longcase clock, James, Leicester, London, circa 1725, the five finned pillar rack and bell striking movement with anchor escapement for regulation by seconds pendulum, the 12 inch brass break-arch dial with subsidiary seconds dial and calendar aperture to the matted centre within applied silvered Roman numeral chapter ring with fleur-de-lys half hour markers, Arabic five minutes to outer track and signed James Leicester, ye Strand, London to lower margin, with pierced steel hands and gilt mask and scroll cast spandrels to angles beneath arch centred with subsidiary Strike/Silent dial flanked by conforming mounts, in a case with foliate fret fronted domed caddy box upstand over moulded cornice and hinged break-arch glazed dial aperture flanked by three-quarter columns and rectangular side windows with conforming quarter columns set against bargeboards to the rear, the trunk with concave throat over herringbone-bordered book-matched veneered rectangular door over conforming reduced plinth base, (generally distressed, lacking pendulum and weights), 241cm (95ins) high. James Leicester is recorded in Baillie, G.H. Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World as working from circa 1710 until 1729 when he was declared bankrupt.Condition Report: Movement appears essentially complete and in sound original condition with no obvious alterations, significant repairs or replacements although the pendulum suspension block is later and is generally in dirty/neglected condition. The dial is also in sound original albeit dirty/neglected condition, the seconds hand is missing and both the hour and minute hands have been repaired; there is also a very small chip to the lower left hand corner of the dial plate and the chapter ring is somewhat rubbed. The movement rests on an old seatboard which has packing slips applied to the underside where it rests on the case uprights (cheeks) this would indicate that the movement and dial are most likely not original to the case.The case is generally structurally sound and fundamentally original but presents in unrestored and somewhat distressed condition. The superstructure to the hood is lacking part of its front fretwork and the quadrants above the dial now have applied wooden panels where there would have been frets. The rear quarter columns are replacements and one is lacking its capital. The side apertures have been blanked-off with wooden panel inserts. The mask around the dial (behind the hood door) has additions to the veneer overlap which adds to the view that the movement and dial are probably not original to the case. Faults to hood otherwise limited to bumps, scuffs shrinkage and veneer and moulding chips. The trunk has losses to the mouldings of the front door as well as overall wear, chips and losses to the veneers. The base is basically structurally intact but has significant wear to the lower edge as well as large losses to the veneers and chips to the mouldings.Clock does not have pendulum, weights, case keys or winder. Condition Report Disclaimer
