Beschreibung:

A fine James II eight-day longcase clock movement and dial John Holloway, Newbury circa 1685-90 The five knopped and finned pillar outside countwheel bell striking movement with original anchor escapement, fine decorative turnings to greatwheel barrel arbors and highly unusual twist-formed stand for the vertically mounted hour bell, the backplate with concentric ring-turned countwheel over signature John Holloway, De Newbury to lower margin, the 10 inch square brass dial with subsidiary seconds dial and calendar aperture to the finely matted centre within applied skeletonised silvered Roman numeral chapter ring with squat fleur-de-lys half hour markers and Arabic five minutes within the narrow outer minute track, with scroll-pierced steel hands and applied winged cherub mask spandrels to angles, now in an ebonised case with shallow domed caddy superstructure over ogee cornice, ‘Knibb’ style sound fret to lintel and glazed door applied with brass festoon mount to top rail flanked three-quarter columns with brass caps and bases to front angles, the sides with large rectangular windows, further festoon mounts and quarter columns applied against bargeboards to the rear, the trunk with convex throat moulding over 39.5 inch rectangular door applied with three vertically aligned raised panels to centre within half-round moulded border, the sides with further recessed panels mirroring the design of the door, on plain plinth base with stepped ogee top moulding and bun feet, 197cm (77.5ins) high. John Holloway (II) is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 as the eldest son of a clockmaker of the same name born in Market Lavington around 1730. He married Mary Longcroft (his second cousin) in 1759 at Devizes. The couple bore several children between 1662 and 1680, all of which were baptised at Market Lavington where it is presumed the family lived up until around 1680. John Holloway became free at Devices in 1684 before moving to Newbury sometime after 1685; he later returned to Market Lavington where he died 1708/9. Loomes notes only four timepieces by John Holloway (II). The first a winged (centre verge swinging pendulum) lantern clock made in Devizes, dated 1882 and inscribed for the first owner Daniel Dike; the second another lantern clock signed ‘John Holloway, Newberry’; the third is a hooded wall clock, and finally a watch made in Newbury. Stylistically the dial of the current lot can be closely compared with that of an eight-day clock by Joseph Knibb dating to around 1680 illustrated in Dawson, P. G., Drover, C. B. and Parkes, D. W. Early English Clocks on page 261 (plate 356). From the image it is clear that the skeletonised chapter rings on both clocks incorporate the same design of squat half hour marker and the calendar rings are engraved with the distinctive ‘early’ style Arabic numerals. Another interesting observation is that the dial plate casting is of a fairly heavy gauge and thickens towards the centre. This detail is sometimes seen on Joseph Knibb’s early longcase clocks including a ting-tang quarter-striking example made in Oxford (prior to 1670) which is illustrated and discussed by Dawson, Drover & Parkes on pages 121 and 123 where the authors note “Oddly for a Knibb, the dial plate is exceptionally thick, particularly in the middle”. The movement itself is particularly noteworthy in both its high quality decorative finish and originality. The steelwork is finely worked with lavish details such as complex decorative turnings to the barrel arbors and the bell stand can only be described as an extraordinary flourish. The mechanism appears entirely original including the delicately made escapement pallets. The rear of the movement features a decoratively turned countwheel and unusual scripted signature. When all of these features are considered it is clear that the current lot is a particularly fine example and survives as one of the earliest timepieces to have been made in the town of Newbury. Co