Beschreibung:

A FINE VICTORIAN BRASS GIANT CARRIAGE CLOCK WITH PUSH-BUTTON REPEAT
EDWARD WHITE, LONDON, NUMBER 795 CIRCA 1865
The eight-day five columnar pillar twin chain fusee train gong striking movement with Harrison's maintaining power and frosted gilt platform underslung lever escapement regulated by sprung split bimetallic balance with jewelled endstone to the going train, the backplate with central aperture revealing the balance regulation lever to upper margin over winding and hand-setting squares and engraved signature E. White, 20 Cockspur St., London, 795 to centre, the 3.5 inch circular white enamel Roman numeral dial with subsidiary running seconds hand at twelve o'clock and signed E. WHITE, 20 COCKSPUR ST., LONDON to centre, with blued spade steel hands and set within a fine engine-turned silvered rectangular gilt mask framed by a canted bezel surround, the heavy thickly bevel-glazed brass case with hinged reeded baton-centred scroll-ended handle over rectangular top glass, inverted ogee cornice, and rounded uprights to angles, the right-hand glass with repeat plunger towards upper leading corner, the rear with lift-out panel secured via a sliding tab to the lower edge and incorporating regulation and STRIKE/SILENT selection slides over shuttered SET HANDS square and winding holes, on cavetto moulded skirt base with rounded angles; with original brass winding key stamped 795.
The timepiece 21.5cm (8.5ins) high with handle down, 15cm (6ins) wide, 12.5cm (5ins) deep.
 
Edward White was a chronometer and carriage clock maker who operated from premises at 20 Cockspur Street, Pall Mall London from 1861 to 1890. He was a former workman for Dent and exhibited at the 1862 Exhibition taking a four-page advertisement in the catalogue. Subsequent exhibitions included Dublin 1665 and Paris 1867, at the former White was awarded a medal for 'great taste and excellence of workmanship'.
 
A closely related timepiece to the present lot (number 837) is illustrated in Roberts, Derek CARRIAGE and Other Travelling CLOCKS pages 320-21 (Figures 21-23 a., b., c.). A chronometer carriage clock by Dent, housed in a near-identical case, is also illustrated on page 319 (Figure 21-22 a). Roberts notes that the similarities between the examples signed by both E. White and Dent are such that 'it would seem more than a little likely that they were made by the same hand'.
Condition Report:
Movement is in fine clean fully working condition with no evidence of alteration or noticeable replacements. The only notable visible fault to the mechanism is some slight surface bruising to the pillar adjacent to the strike side fusee suggesting at some point the fusee chain has come loose and scuffed against the pillar. The dial is ion fine condition with only an extremely faint short hairline crack (just about visible on very close examination only) adjacent to the IIII numeral. The mask and canted surround has some very slight tarnishing/mellowing and a few very slight surface abrasions (only visible when viewed with light reflecting off the surface) otherwise is in fine condition. The top glass is free from visible damage; the left hand side glass has a short crack issuing from the centre of the leading edge and the right-hand has some slight edge chipping to the rear lower corner. The rear lift-out panel is lacking a thumbnail return on the sliding securing tab. Otherwise faults to the case very much limited to a few light bumps, scuffs, and other light age related blemishes including slight casting blemishes to the surface.
As catalogued the clock has original numbered winding key.
 
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