Beschreibung:

Y A FINE WILLIAM AND MARY EBONY 'BASKET TOP' TABLE TIMEPIECE WITH 'SILENT' PULL-QUARTER REPEAT
NATHANIEL HODGES, LONDON, CIRCA 1690
The six finned pillar single fusee movement with verge escapement regulated by short bob pendulum and 'silent' pull-quarter repeat on a graduated pair of bells, the backplate engraved with symmetrical scrolling foliage incorporating tulip blooms around a central shaped reserve signed Nathanael Hodges, Londini Fecit, the 6 inch square brass dial with calendar aperture to the matted centre within applied Roman numeral chapter ring with eared cruciform half hour markers and Arabic five minutes within the outer minute track, with scroll pierced steel hands and winged cherub cast spandrel mounts to angles, the ebony veneered case with eagle head and dolphin cast hinged brass carrying handle to the pierced gilt brass domed 'basket' caddy superstructure pierced and relief decorated with Ho-Ho birds over generous tied fruit festoon swags flanked by floral pendants and with acanthus scrolls to the angles, flanked by flambeau finials to the corners, over ogee edged projecting cushion top mouldings and rectangular glazed front door applied with fine mouldings around the glazed aperture and applied with scroll-pierced gilt escutcheon mounts to uprights, the sides with conforming rectangular windows and the rear with glazed door applied with matching mouldings to the aperture set within the frame of the case, on ogee moulded shallow skirt base with gilt brass disc feet; with a later ebonised wall bracket of inverted ogee form, (quarter repeat work restored).
The timepiece 30cm (11.75ins) high with handle down, 21.5cm (8.5ins) wide, 14cm (5.5cm) deep; the timepiece on bracket 46.5cm (18.25ins) high with handle down.
Nathaniel Hodges is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 as becoming a Free Brother of the Clockmakers' Company in 1681. He was noted as a 'great clockmaker' (i.e. maker of turret clocks) and was last mentioned in the Company Records as being in arrears in 1687. Loomes cites the burial records of two individuals of the same name in 1688 but neither appear to have been clockmakers. He also notes that Hodges was living in the Parish of Blackfriars with his wife, Joan, when their daughter was baptised in 1673. By 1679 he had moved to Parish of St. Brides, Fleet Street (possibly to his premises on Wine Office Court) where three further children were baptised, the last being Mary in January 1687. Despite being noted as a 'great clockmaker' and generally very little else known of Nathaniel Hodges he was clearly a fine maker with many fine table clocks surviving including a rare marquetry-cased example and another extensively decorated with repousse mounts and with rare original glazed-front carrying case illustrated in Dawson, Percy G.; Drover, C.B. and Parkes, D.W. Early English Clocks on page 460 (Plates 677-78).
The current lot is designed to sound the hours and quarters on two bells only on demand. This form of quarter repeat mechanism is thought to have been devised for timepieces destined for night-time use in the bedroom; whilst striking clocks with quarter repeat facility were generally intended to be utilised downstairs during the day and upstairs at night. As a consequence silent-pull quarter repeating timepieces are rarer as the original owner would have to be very wealthy indeed to afford a timepiece reserved exclusively for use in the bed chamber. The design of the repeat mechanism used in the current lot is based to the system devised by Joseph Knibb (as described and illustrated in Allix, Charles and Harvey, Laurence HOBSON'S CHOICE pages 36-7) with the principal differences being the shape and positioning of the pivoted gear-toothed sector, and the use of an unusual slide arrangement to engage with the hour-snail. Another noteworthy feature is the split hammer arbor enabling both the hour and quarter hammers to be set side-by-side by providing pivots for each within a bat positioned between them. This detail appears to have been favoured by Henry Jones and can been seen on a timepiece (dating to the mid-1670's) illustrated and described in Dzik, Sunny BENEATH THE DIAL, English Clock Pull Repeat Striking 1675-1725 pages 67-68.
The engraving to the backplate of the present timepiece is a very good example of the of tulip engraving and can be closely compared to that on a table timepiece by Charles Gretton illustrated and described in Dzik, Sunny ENGRAVING ON ENLISH TABLE CLOCKS, Art on a Canvas of Brass 1660-1800 pages132-106 (Figure 7.7).
Condition Report:
The movement is complete and fully operational although a gentle clean/service is advised. The movement is in its original form with no visible evidence of any alteration however it is most probably that the repeat mechanism has seen significant well-executed restoration or has possibly been faithfully reinstated. There is no visible evidence (filled holes or alteration to pallet arbor slot cut to the top of the backplate) to indicate that the movement was ever converted to anchor escapement although the present escape wheel would appear to be a service replacement. The dial has been electro-gilded (including the rear of the plate) and two of the spandrel securing screws have been replaced. Both hands appear original and are nicely made/sculpted; the hour has had repairs to the scrolls forming the tip and is a little distorted. Dial otherwise is in good clean condition with fine matting showing some slight overall wear.
The case is in sound original condition. All the brass mounts have been electro-gilded. The basket top has historic wear through the hight spots most notably to the swags otherwise appears undamaged and with vey little distortion. The finials are probably later additions; the moulding forming the lower edge of the basket has had the corners filed to allow room for the finials. The front door repousse right hand repousse mount is missing a small section from the lower edge and the left hand one is a cast replica which also replicates the same small loss to the lower edge. The leading edge of the top front right-hand corner of the top (adjacent to the finial) has a small veneer chip. The mask around the dial (behind the front door hence only visible when door is open) has overall chipping/wear and losses to the veneer overlap bordering the dial. The right-hand side above the aperture has a crack and slight movement in the carcass and veneer and the lower edge of the moulding bordering the upper edge of the panel has wear/loss. The rear upper moulding has some cracking towards the right-hand ed and the lower rear right-hand corner has a small scarf-type repair to the moulding. The interior of the case has some scooping-out to the carcass to allow room for bells, backcock etc which is to be expected in a clock where the movement is a snug fit in the case (ie. is not indicative of alteration or the clock being a marriage. The base of the case has two additional small holes drilled for a pair of later hooks to further secure the movement (by hooking over the two bottom pillars) in the case. This is in addition to the original system of two latches fitted to the rear of the dial plate engaging with slots cut in the uprights of the dial surround. Front and rear doors appear to retain original locks and hinges albeit with some later securing screws added. Faults to the case are otherwise limited to minor shrinkage and a few are-related bumps, scuffs etc.
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