STYLE: Private Collections
STYLE: Private Collections
Thomas Tompion: A small walnut 30-hour wall clock, London, circa 1700
Lot Closed
November 13, 12:31 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Thomas Tompion: A small walnut 30-hour wall clock, London, circa 1700
7-inch dial with winged cherub spandrels, signed along the lower edge Tho: Tompion, Londini Fecit, matted centre, steel hands possibly replaced, the posted movement with verge escapement and external locking plate striking on a bell, the frame with turned and slightly tapered pillars, the case with rising hood, moulded top with carved arched cresting, the bracket with later supports
41cm. 16in high
This small domestic 30-hour wall clock is previously un-recorded and some comparisons can be made with No.419 as illustrated and decribed in Evans, Carter & Wright, Thomas Tompion 300 Years, 2013, pp. 544-45. It was previously thought that only two of Tompion's hooded wall clocks, 392 and 419 had survived and although un-numbered, this clock can be added to that list.
Thomas Tompion, the most highly respected English clockmaker, was born at Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire in 1639. He moved to London and joined the Clockmakers' Company as a Free Brother in 1671. In 1674 he set up his workshop at the Dial and Three Crowns in Water Street and shortly afterwards met Dr Robert Hooke, the leading physicist and Mathematician of the day. Through Dr Hooke, Tompion came to the notice of King Charles II and from this time held an unrivalled position in English horology.
Sotheby's would like to thank Jeremy Evans for his help in cataloguing this clock.