Bracket clock by Tompion & Banger London, London, c. 1705

Dealer description — Howard Walwyn

A fine and rare Queen Anne period phase 3 ebony striking and quarter-repeating bracket clock of beautiful proportions and with great provenance. The magnificent ebony veneered case has an inverted bell-top, acanthus wrapped carrying handle, four acanthus clasped vase finials and original gilt satyr mask mount and lambrequin sound fret to the front. The case stands on four impressive gadrooned gilt brass feet and the front sill beneath the opening door is punch stamped 444 . The rectangular 7 x 8 inch gilt dial has a finely matted centre, mock pendulum aperture and typical delicately wrought blued-steel hands, with silvered and engraved chapter ring and Minerva head type spandrels. The upper subsidiary regulation and strike/silent dials are set within foliate scrollwork and centred by the signature TOMPION & BANGER London. The 8-day fully latched movement has hour and half hour strike on 2 bells, a profusely engraved backplate numbered 444 at the base and is similarly signed by the makers. It has its original verge escapement and restored pull quarter-repeat mechanism activated by pulling a cord operated from either side of the case. Date: circa 1705 Height : 17 ¼ in (30.5 cm) * This clock from the Nicholas Goodison Collection is almost identical to Number 418 illustrated on page 154 of R.W. Symonds’ book entitled Thomas Tompion: His Life and Work . The backplate engraving is remarkably similar to that of the highly important Hanover Grande Sonnerie tortoiseshell Tompion & Banger N° 417 shown on page 404 of Thomas Tompion 300 Years by Evans, Carter, Wright. Interestingly, this clock is also illustrated on page 284, figure 308 of Cescinsky and Webster’s English Domestic Clocks back in 1913. Provenance: Anon., Holland. George Dunn, Wooley Hall Maidenhead. Henry Edmund Goodison, Hillside, Fitzroy Park, Highgate, London, and by descent to his son Edmund Harold Goodison (John), Longacre, Newlands Avenue, later Derry’s Wood Farm, Wonersh, Guildford, Surrey. The Property of a Gentleman; Sotheby’s, London, 30 October 1953, lot 81 (unsold). By descent to his daughter Judy Tallents. Property of a Lady; Sotheby’s, London, 15 December 1978, lot 302 (purchased through R.A. Lee). The Goodison Collection, Christie’s, London, 25 May 2022 References : H. Cescinsky, M. Webster, English Domestic Clocks , London, 1913, p. 284, fig. 308. R.W. Symonds, Thomas Tompion, His Life and Work , London, 1951, p. 154, fig. 131. J. Evans, Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns , Ticehurst, 2006, pp. 78-80. J. Evans, J. Carter, B. Wright, Thomas Tompion, 300 Years , Stroud, 2013, pp. 154-5.