A lovely quality passing strike skeleton clock with an eight day, chain fusee movement striking once on a bell at each hour. The silvered chapter ring, of typical Smith's form, is engraved with black Roman numerals and has blued steel spade hands. The scroll shaped plates have turned pillars, with an engraved, silvered scroll plaque to the front plate signed ‘Vale, Bury St. Edmunds’. Standing on an oval white marble oval base typical of this maker and complete with glass dome.
* John Smith & Sons of Clerkenwell, London were, along with Evans of handsworth, at the forefront of skeleton clock making in the Victorian period. The business was founded circa 1844 in St. John's Square, Clerkenwell at the former manufactury of Colnel Magnier with skeleton clocks making up a large part of their varied horological output. Their workshops had it's own brass foundry, clock case workshop and assembly areas for the various types of clocks produced as can be seen in an article printed in the Illustrated London News of 1851 entitled 'Visit to a Clerkenwell Clock Factory'. This frame design is shown in one of their catalogues of the period. For further details see 'British Skeleton Clocks' by Derek Roberts.
*John Vale worked as both a clockmaker and retailer at 14, Abbeygate Street, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk from 1839 until 1864 and for whom Smith's would have made this clock. There is a clock by Vale in the famous Gershom Parkington collection of clocks & watches.
Height: 17 inches. (inc. dome)
Price: £3,250.00