A rare Charles II eight-day longcase timepiece movement with nine-inch dial William Clement, London, circa 1670-5 and later The six finned and fully latched pillar movement with plates measuring 7.5 by 4 inches and 9 inch square brass dial plate now applied with rectangular silvered nameplate engraved W m Clement, London to the later matted centre fitted with card mock-ups for the subsidiary seconds dial and narrow Roman numeral chapter ring, (lacking escapement, maintaining power, hands, dial fittings pendulum and weight; dial plate with alterations). Provenance: From the estate of Michael Hurst. William Clement is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 as born before 1622, possibly 1621 in St. Albans. He was made a Freeman in the Blacksmiths Company in 1654 and rose to the Livery in 1664. From around 1665 Clement lived in the Parish of St. Saviours, Southwark, possibly to escape the plague from which his two sons William and Francis may have died. In 1659 a William Clement was commissioned as Lt Colonel in the White Regiment of Foot of the Parliamentarian Army. Clement was still alive in 1675 however records from this time onwards become confused with that of his son of the same name. In 1671 William Clement supplied a turret clock for Kings College, Cambridge, this clock was traditionally considered to be the earliest surviving timepiece to be regulated by anchor escapement and long pendulum supporting the possibility that Clement was the inventor. This view was further supported by an entry in Smith, John Horological Disquisitions (1694) which credits Clement as the Contriver of that curious kind of long pendulum . Two years later William Dereham in The-Artificial Clock-Maker puts the case forward for Dr. Robert Hooke who it is said demonstrated the long pendulum (with a form of recoil anchor escapement) to the Royal Society soon after the Fire of London. Despite this, and although it is generally accepted that Hooke devised the spring pendulum suspension, there is no direct documentary evidence to confirm that he devised the recoil anchor escapement. Another contender for its invention is Joseph Knibb who supplied a turret clock for Wadham College, Oxford with anchor recoil escapement and long pendulum in early 1670 before relocating to London. In 1677 William Clement was made a Free Brother of the Clockmakers Company and the following year was appointed Assistant by unanimous consent and approbation and for good reasons and especial esteem . He later served as Warden in 1690 and Master in 1694. In 1697 Clement signed the Oath of Allegiance and was from September of that year excused from attending meetings on account of his age. From April 1704 he received charity payments from the Company until his death in July 1709. The current lot, although bearing an 18th century nameplate signed for him to the centre of the dial is undoubtedly William Clement s work and can be closely compared to a month-going timepiece illustrated in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 on page 95 (Figs. 57-59) and another illustrated in Bruton, Eric The Wetherfield Collection of Clocks on page 138. Both of these timepieces have pendulum regulation via a dial applied to the side of the movement and 1¼ seconds pendulum. Whilst there is no evidence of the current movement being fitted with a regulation dial it may well have originally had a 1¼ seconds pendulum however as both the escapement and subsidiary seconds dial are now missing this cannot be confirmed. The dial shows evidence of previously being all-over engraved with fine tulip inhabited foliage to the centre similar to that on a clock by Tompion previously in the Iden Collection illustrated in Dawson, Percy G. THE IDEN CLOCK COLLECTION on pages 66-67. This evidence combined with the fact that the dial plate is only 9 inches square would suggest a date close to 1670.