The Property of Sir Brooke Boothby, 15th Bt., removed from Fonmon Castle, Glamorgan
A walnut month-going longcase clock, Joseph & Thomas Windmills, London, circa 1715
Lot Closed
January 17, 03:33 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
12-inch dial with engraved wheat ear border and bold winged cherub and foliate scroll spandrels, signed Windmills, London, finely matted centre with subsididary seconds dial, ringed winding and date apertures, the matted arch with a silvered regulation sector, the movement with six knopped and ringed pillars, reversed five wheel trains, anchor escapement with rise and fall regulation, striking on a bell, the case with double break-arch moulded top and gilt-brass capped hood pilasters, the rectangular trunk door inset with a brass-framed lenticle, the whole veneered with well figured wood,
238cm. 7ft.9¾in. high
This lot will be on view in our New Bond Street galleries on 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 17th January 2024.
Joseph Windmills, a highly regarded maker, was made Free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1671 and became its Master in 1702. Shortly after this date he formed a partnership with his son Thomas and the clocks and watches made by the firm were either signed Windmills, without forename, or J & T Windmills.
It is generally accepted that the arch was very rarely added to the dials of longcase clocks before 1710, the arch containing either a subsidiary dial for strike/silent or calendar or a signature boss. In this instance, it contains a regulation sector linked to the rise and fall mechanism regulating the timekeeping of the clock. Another early longcase clock by George Graham and with a regulation dial in the arch is illustrated and described by Tom Robinson, The Longcase Clock, Antique Collectors' Club, 1981, p.213 figs. 9/26 and 9/27.