Donnington Priory Salerooms

The dial layout of the current lot with
two subsidiary dials beneath a
central feature (either signature
plaque or third dial) appears to have
been the favoured format of
DuChesne at this period. This
coupled with the use of fitted disc
collets around the winding holes
(also favoured by DuChesne) and
the fact that the 24 hour wheel is
signed by him confirms that the
movement was supplied by
DuChesne to DeCharmes for use in
this clock, complete with the finished
dial to which he had only to add a
signed boss.
The case on the other hand exhibits
details which appear to be unique to
DeCharmes, most noticeably the
unusual break-arch moulding above
the trunk door. This feature (coupled
with directly comparable caddy
configurations and break-arch detail
immediately above the arch of the
case) can be seen on two other
examples by DeCharmes. The first
(now with later marquetry) was sold
by Sotheby's, London on 19/12/00
(lot 335) the second also sold by
Sotheby's in London on 23/03/99
lot 252. The case can also be
compared with a marquetry example
housing a grande sonnerie
movement by Quare (number 145)
illustrated in Robinson, Tom The
LONGCASE CLOCK pages144-5
which Robinson dates to 1716-18.
The brass half-round moulding
applied to the front door and side
windows of the hood is also a
feature often found on examples by
Quare. Clocks of three month
duration are extremely rare,
especially example which also strike
the hours due to the enormous
power reserve required to operate
for a full three months. To tackle this
problem Joseph Knibb developed
Roman striking, (a coded form of
hour notation on two bells one
representing the 'I' on a dial the
other 'V') in order to reduce the
amount of power required. The current lot however, in addition to striking the full hours for the entire three-month period
also has reserve built into the hour train to allow reasonable operation of the pull-quarter repeat over that period. Both
the movement and case are of suitably substantial construction to accommodate the strains and stresses created
by the heavy driving weights. The extraordinary specification of the movement coupled with the complex dial layout
and impressive proportions of the case suggests that this magnificent clock was made for an extremely wealthy client
who wished to express his high status in the most appropriate manner.
£30,000-50,000
01635 553553
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