A fine George III mahogany bracket clock by Vigne and Lautier of Bath, the break arch case with a central pad top with gilt brass fillet and a decorative carrying handle, and with a complex moulded edge, over sides with arched silk lined gilt brass fishscale sounding panels and fillets to the corners, with a conforming glazed door to the silvered dial with Roman numerals in black with outer minute track and pierced blued steel hands, and with the name Vigne and Lautier in exuberant copperplate script over the name Bath in Gothick script, and with a subsidiary dial within the arch with a Strike/Silent selector, to an eight day twin fusee movement with an anchor escapement striking the hours on a bell and with a repeating function, the movement bearing the name THWAITES to the frontplate, the backplate finely engraved to the border and with an almond shaped vignette with a decorative border engraved with the name Vigne and Lautier, Bath, behind a glazed door, the whole on a plinth base and raised on gilt brass bracket feet. English, circa 1800. Supplied with a door key and winding key.
Condition: Overall very good, the clock is in very good condition with no damage to it, there is a small piece of veneer missing from the top left corner of the back door, there is a split to the moulding to the front, the gilt brass fittings have some gilding remaining but some wear, all consistent with age, the dial has been lightly cleaned and is in good original condition with clear numerals and original hands, the movement is in very good condition and has been fully serviced and overhauled and is in excellent working condition, and overall the clock has a beautiful appearance with well chosen timber with lovely grain, warm colour and pleasing patina, the bell has a pleasant, clear sound. It has great originality – it has had very little intervention over the years. It should be noted that, as with any bracket clock with a handle, the handle should only be regarded as decorative and never be used to carry the clock.
The maker: The movement was made by Thwaites, the firm begun by Aynsworth Thwaites in the 1730’s and which was located at Rosoman Street, Clerkenwell, by 1740, moving to Bowling Green Lane by around 1780. Thwaites made domestic clocks and tower clocks as well as making clock movements for retailers and other clockmakers, which included Matthew Dutton, John Dwerrihouse, John Ellicott and Benjamin Vulliamy. Movements made by Thwaites, and later (after 1817) Thwaites and Reed, for use in clocks by other makers, are usually discreetly marked in stamped in Roman letters on the facing side of the front plate, and are thus only revealed when the movement is taken out for cleaning. Vigne and Lautier were a firm of clockmakers, set up by Benjamin Lautier in around 1798 in Bath, and was in partnership with Peter Vigne, trading under the name Vigne and Lautier, at Bridge Street, Bath.
Dimensions:
Height = 43 cm (17”)
Width = 33 cm (13”)
Depth = 20 cm (8”)