A good ebony quarter repeating and alarm table clock, Richard Colston, London, circa 1700

7¼-inch latched dial with foliate spandrels, signed Rich:Colston, London with matted centre and concentric alarm disc, strike/not strike and alarm/not alarm levers above XII, well pierced blued steel hands, similarly signed fusee movement with seven ring-turned knopped and latched pillars, verge escapement, repeating the quarters on three bells and striking on a fourth bell, the repeating driven by the strike train and operated by a lever passing through the base of the case, the backplate profusely engraved with flowers and leaf scrolls, the case with addorsed `S'  handle, pierced brass frets to the dome, flower vase finials, wood frets to the front door and the sides, gilt-brass escutcheons and bun feet

Richard Colston, the son of clockmaker John Colston, was Freed by patrimony in July 1682. He took a number of apprentices but paid no quarterage after 1702 and probably died in that year. His widow was supported by charity from the Clockmakers' Company up to 1720.

 

This clock employs an usual form of quarter repeating found on a small number of clocks made around 1700. The repeating does not have a separate train but is driven by the striking train and activated by a lever passing through the base of the case. The walnut table clock by Fromanteel elsewhere in this sale employs the same arrangement . On this example the area in the movement usually reserved for the repeating train is occupied by an alarm train.