Beschreibung:

A unique and extremely interesting late 18th century ebonised longcase timepiece with additional counting featureWright, Poultry The hood with serpentine arched cresting supported on freestanding brass-mounted Doric columns, with gilt-heightened gothic-arched glazed side doors over an elaborately stepped and moulded throat section, the long arched door with gilt-heightened raised moulding over a conforming stepped moulded section to the plain base on shaped apron. The 12-inch one-piece silvered arched dial centred by a Roman chapter ring with matching pierced blued steel hands, wound at VI, surmounted by a series of four subsidiary dials - the furthest to the right-hand side set with two hands simply giving running seconds and the hour in a 24-hour day. The remaining three are directly geared and mark the passing of each individual hour, their dials marked as 100; 1000 and 20,000. The large weight driven movement with plates measuring 21.5cms x 18cms (8.25ins x 7ins) united by four substantial knopped pillars, the large diameter barrel driving a four wheel train terminating in an anchor escapement set to the top right hand side of the plates, directly behind the subsidiary seconds dial, the plain pendulum suspended from a centrally-mounted cock, thereby necessitating a pivotted right-angled linkage to the crutch. Together with the pendulum with steel rectangular-section rod terminating in a brass bob, later crank winder, case key and brass-clad weight. 2.07m (6ft 10ins) highFootnotesThomas Wright was born around 1744 and was made Free of the Clockmakers Company in 1770, establishing himself in the Poultry likely at number 13, and moving later to number 6. At some point between 1770 and 1781, he was appointed watch and clockmaker to the King, though how he obtained this distinction is unknown. Around 1781, Thomas Earnshaw approached Wright to finance his patent for a detached spring chronometer escapement, the former having previously had a falling out with his previous financer. After much discussion, it was decided that Wright would file the patent on Earnshaw's behalf, and Earnshaw would recompensate Wright the 100-guinea patent fee, by charging an additional guinea for each of the first 100 chronometers sold. The patent, 1354, was filed by Wright in 1783. It has been claimed, by Earnshaw, that Wright insisted these first 100 chronometers bear the stamp Wright's Patent on the movement. One such chronometer is known which carries this stamp, though the others seem to use T. W. Pt. 34, with the T.W. presumably standing for Thomas Wright In 1784, Earnshaw developed a bimetallic compensation balance, and the first watch this was used on was signed Thomas Wright in the Poultry, London, No. 2228. Thomas Earnshaw was not the only famous colleague Wright had, as he also worked with Matthew Boulton of Lunar Society fame, beginning around 1770. Boulton and Wright produced a clock for King George III in 1771; Boulton supplied the gilt bronze and Blue John case, while Wright supplied the movement. It is possible that this is how Wright received his Royal warrant, though why Boulton contacted Wright in the first place is not clear. Although the clock was made for the King, the design was used by Bolton to manufacture at least six other 'King's clocks'. The escapement was originally verge but was replaced with a pin wheel in the 1820's by Benjamin Vulliamy. Wright is known to have had at least one child, George William who was apprenticed to his father in 1785. Unfortunately, Wright died in 1792 on a visit to Birmingham, possibly to meet with Boulton, and his son does not appear to have been made free. There also does not seem to be a record of a 'George William Wright clockmaker' and it is possible he pursued a different career after his father's death. There is some indication that Wright's shop was taken over by a horologist named Thorp and the shop name became 'Wright & Thorp', though this hasn't been confirmed. Watches from Wright