Property of a Private Clock Collector (Lots 88-94)
A George II small ebonised table timepiece with silent escapement and alarm, Samuel Barkley and Thomas Colley, London, circa 1752
Auction Closed
May 22, 05:01 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 9,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
5½-inch latched dial plate with foliate spandrels, enamel dial, the arch with pin-set alarm sector and signed Graham's Succs., Barkley & Colley, London, the fusee and chain movement with five latched and knopped pillars, pivoted silent verge escapement , the pull-wound alarm train acting with three hammers on a single bell, the plain backplate signed as the dial, the broken-arch case with triple pad top and brass carrying handle, moulded base and brass feet,
34cm. 13½in. high
George Graham, an important clockmaker, worked for and was in partnership with the most famous of all English clockmakers, Thomas Tompion. On Tompion's death in 1713 Graham inherited the business as Tompion's successor. In 1715 he took, as one of his apprentices, Samuel Barkley and also employed Thomas Colley as a journeyman. Both men lived and worked with Graham and were appointed his executors. On Graham's death in 1751 they succeeded to Graham's business in Fleet Street, London but the partnership was short lived as Barkley died in 1753. The present timepiece has a movement of exceptional quality incorporating many features that one might expect to find in a clock by George Graham, including latched dial and pillars and the use of the rare silent verge escapement. It is indeed interesting to wonder if this fine timepiece with alarm may have been begun during Grahams lifetime and only completed after his death by his successors.
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