A fine early-mid 18th century burr walnut silver-mounted, quarter repeating table clock
Henry Thornton, London
The inverted bell top with solid silver handle and four finials over pierced quadrants and twin silk-backed sound frets, to a moulded base on solid silver block feet, the 7 inch arched brass dial with solid silver strike/silent subsidiary flanked by silver Green Man mounts over the solid silver Roman and Arabic chapter ring framed by Indian head spandrels, with blued steel hands, the matted centre with wide mock pendulum aperture, applied signature plaque and chamfered date aperture. The twin gut (now wire) fusee movement with six knopped pillars and knife edge verge escapement, rack striking on the hour on a large bell (cast internally with the initials JD and a five-pointed star), and repeating the quarters on demand via a pull cord to the right side. The backplate engraved with twin Green Man masks in profile amid a series of symmetrical foliate scrolls, secured in the case via two engraved L-shaped brass brackets and turnbuckles on the dial plate. Ticking, striking and repeating. 49cms (1ft 7ins) high.
Footnotes:
Henry Thornton was apprenticed to Samuel Stevens in 1692. It is possible that this was the same Samuel Stevens who was working in Grub Street, London, between 1680-1703, and who was himself apprenticed to Edward Stanton. Thornton gained his Freedom in 1699 and by 1723 he was known to be working at 'ye Dial' in Basing Lane, suffering a burglary that year where a silver dial worth 18d, was stolen. He moved to the Royal Exchange around 1730. The last record of him in the Clockmakers Company is 1732, a date which is tentatively put forward as the year he died. There is an unusually high proportion of his extant work in Russia, suggesting that he had early business links with the court - two gold pocket watches from the Tsar's personal collection (one of which is repeating) are now in the State Hermitage Museum, together with a large musical organ clock with 12 tunes and gilt mirrored case. A six-tune musical longcase clock and two chiming clocks are also known to be in Russia.