Gardiner Houlgate
Lot 1811
Fine walnut and marquetry month going longcase clock with five pillar movement, the 11.5" square brass dial with silvered chapter ring signed William Provost (Prevost), Newcastle on the silvered chapter ring enclosing a matted centre with subsidiary seconds dial, ringed winding holes and calendar aperture, the case with moulded edge long door inlaid with three panels of birds and foliate marquetry, also fitted with a circular lenticle, the base similarly inlaid and the sides with boxwood stringing, the hood with a flat stepped cornice over a foliate marquetry inlaid door surround, 81" high (pendulum, two large brass cased weights and keys) (Case alterations) *It is thought that William Prevost (signed Provost on the dial) was of French extraction and was born in the early 1660s. Although based in Newcastle, he obviously visited London regularly and usually signed his dials with a London address. He married Margaret Badudouin at St Mary Magdalene church in Fish Street, London in 1689. His most famous clock is the year going and striking walnut longcase clock exhibited in the Horological Masterworks exhibition, item 44. This clock shares the same Newcastle address *This clock was sold by Bonhams in their Fine Clocks sale dated 11th December 2007 (lot 174) for £9,600 and by Bearnes Hampton Littlewood on 7th October 2009 for £11,400 *The clock also features in Brian Loomes - Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700, p381, fig 202
