Beschreibung:

AN INTERESTING INLAID MAHOGANY TWIN FUSEE DROP-DIAL WALL CLOCK WITH TWENTY-ONE INCH DIAL
THE MOVEMENT BY JAMES DRURY, THE DIAL SIGNED FOR THWAITES AND REED, LONDON, EARLY 19th CENTURY
The substantial five pillar twin chain fusee movement with thick plates measuring approximately 9.5 inches by 8.25 inches and anchor escapement regulated by lenticular bob pendulum incorporating transverse pivoted beam rise/fall regulation to suspension, the backplate indistinctly signed Ja's Drury to centre and with hour-revolving yoke to allow take-off for a remote dial to pass through an aperture in the pendulum rod and a hole in the case back panel, fitted to a 21 inch circular white painted Roman numeral dial inscribed Thwaites & Reed, Clerkenwell, LONDON to centre, with rise/fall adjustment square at twelve o'clock and brass hands, set behind a hinged glazed ogee-outline cast brass bezel applied to a cushion-moulded wooded surround, secured via pegs onto the rear box case with doors to both sides, over line inlaid figured mahogany veneered fascia to the drop-trunk and pendulum access flap to the curved underside.
73cm (28.75ins) high, 61cm (24ins) wide, 24cm (9.5ins) deep.
 
James Drury is recorded in Baillie, G.H. Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World as apprenticed in 1741 and gaining his Freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in 1751; he worked in Clerkenwell, London, up until 1811.
The clockmaking firm Thwaites and Reed can be traced back to Ainsworth Thwaites who was apprenticed in 1735 and worked from Rosoman Row, Clerkenwell, London 1751-80. He was an accomplished maker who supplied the clock for the tower at the Horse Guards Parade. His son, John, was born in 1757 and took over the business presumably on the death of Ainsworth in 1780 before moving to Bowling Green Lane. He entered into partnership with Jeremiah Reed in 1808 and the firm subsequently became well known for supplying all forms of clocks and movements either wholesale for others to retail or signed by themselves. The partnership continued under John Thwaite's leadership from several addresses in London until his death in 1842. The business has subsequently passed through a series of successors and is still trading today from Rottingdean near Brighton.
 
The current lot is interesting in that the present movement is signed for James Drury but is fitted to a dial signed for Thwaites and Reed (with the painted signature appearing original). Evidence to the rear of the metal dial plate indicates that dial feet for a smaller movement were originally fitted prior to the present arrangement, however, there is no evidence of any other winding holes being drilled through the plate. This would suggest that a decision was made to use the present movement prior to the completion of the timepiece with a smaller, probably single train, movement. If this is the case it may be appropriate to speculate that the present mechanism may have been acquired by Thwaites and Reed on the cessation of James Drury's business in 1811, and was subsequently 'repurposed' for the present lot. The current clock is also unusual in having the facility for a second dial to be driven form the movement (via the hour-yoke to the backplate). This suggests that it was a one-off commission destined for a semi-public environment where a second dial (possibly on the other side of the wall on which the clock was hung) was required.