Beschreibung:

A Queen Anne tortoiseshell japanned table clock George Tyler, London, circa 1705 The five finned pillar (centre latched) twin fusee bell striking movement with fine symmetrical foliate scroll and grotesque mask engraved backplate signed Geo Tyler, Popeshead: Alley, LONDON within an oval line scribed leafy scroll and husk swag cartouche, the 7 inch square brass dial with ringed winding holes, herringbone border engraved shaped false-bob aperture now blanked from behind with a silvered nameplate Geo Tyler London and vestigial calendar aperture within applied silvered Roman numeral chapter ring with sword-hilt half hour markers and Arabic five minutes to outer track, with pierced steel hands and angles applied with gilt winged cherub mask cast spandrels, the simulated red tortoiseshell and gilt chinoiserie japanned case with tied floral bud cast hinged gilt brass handle to the domed superstructure decorated with raised oriental garden views over a brass balustrade gallery, knopped finials and cushion-capped cavetto top moulding, the front door painted with panels of bird inhabited picturesque garden views within trellis painted infill to frame, the sides with rectangular windows within stylised scroll motif borders, the rear door matching the front, on conforming cushion moulded shallow skirt base with squab feet (movement with relatively minor alterations, case decoration refreshed), 40.5cm (16ins) high excluding handle. George Tyler is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1900 as born circa 1678, apprenticed in 1992 to Robert Dingley and gaining his freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in December 1699. He worked from 'Popeshead Alley' until at least 1720. The movement of the current lot appears to have been originally made with 'three-in-two' quarter striking where, in addition to sounding the hour on a large bell, the strike train also facilitated notation of the quarters on three smaller bells. Although most of the under-dial quarter striking mechanism has now been removed it seems that no disfiguring alteration has taken place and enough survives to perhaps allow viable/relatively straightforward reconstruction. Alternatively the clock can be enjoyed as is in its current hour-striking state. The design of the case with its raised superstructure and cushion top mouldings is reminiscent of those made to house movements by the leading contemporary Huguenot makers such as Claude DuChesne and Simon DeCharmes. A comparable case housing a movement by DeCharmes is illustrated in Cescinsky, Herbert and Webster, Malcolm R. ENGLISH DOMESTIC CLOCKS fig. 299 (page 279). Condition report disclaimer