A fine Regency ebonised bracket clock, the arched top with moulded edge with gilt brass fillets and broad pad with gilt brass surround and surmounted by a decorative gilt brass handle, over sides with insert crimson silk lined fishscale cut gilt brass sounding panels and with a hinged door to the front with a circular aperture with a gilt brass cast bezel and convex glass, over a 7” cream painted convex dial with Roman numerals and outer minute track and with strike/silent selector above, pierced blued steel hands and with a pair of conforming crimson silk lined gilt brass fishscale panels below, gilt brass fillets to the sides of the door and with an eight day twin fusee movement with anchor escapement and repeating function striking the hours on a bell, the backplate with engraved edge and with an oval applied plate engraved ‘Robt Simpson, Strand London’, the movement also bearing the mark of Thwaites and Reed on the inside of the backplate, with a glazed locking back door and raised on gilt brass feet. English, circa 1815. Supplied with door key and winding key.
Condition: Excellent, the clock is in very good condition, the case is in excellent condition with no splits or damage to the ebonising, the brass fittings retain a good degree of gilding and show little sign of polishing, the silk panels have been replaced, there is a small split in the brass housing of the dial to the top, the movement has been fully serviced and overhauled and is in excellent working order. Overall the clock has a superb appearance with wonderful proportions, and with a fantastic movement.
The firm Thwaites and Reed made a number of clock movements for retailers such as John Simpson, and are still in existence today. Claiming to be the oldest firm of clock manufacturers in the world, they were especially known for producing turret clocks, and for thirty years the firm maintained all the clocks at the Palace of Westminster, including the Great Clock in the Queen Elizabeth Tower. They also produced many domestic clocks, including for such prestigious names as Matthew Dutton, John Dwerrihouse, Benjamin Vulliamy and John Ellicott.
Dimensions:
Height = 41 cm (16”)
Width = 20 cm (8”)
Depth = 28 cm (11”)