

The makers’ signatures are signed to the backplate in capital letters rather than the more traditional script style of signature. By this period, block lettering was beginning to be used by several makers, including Tompion and Banger. Ahasuerus Fromanteel the Younger and Christopher Clarke began a partnership in circa 1680 to form the firm of Fromanteel & Clarke. Fromanteel came from a family of distinguished watch and clockmakers and worked in both London and Amsterdam. He earned his Freedom from the Clockmakers’ Company in 1672. Clarke, a British ex-patriate who resided in Amsterdam, married Fromanteel's daughter in 1694. Clocks and watches signed ‘Fromanteel & Clarke’ were sometimes manufactured in Amsterdam, and sold both there and in London. Their partnership ended in 1703 when Fromanteel died, Clarke continued to work, forming a partnership with Fromanteel's younger brother, Abraham.