Live Auction 14224The Collector: English Furniture, Clocks & Works of Art
A CHARLES II WALNUT MONTH-GOING STRIKING LONGCASE CLOCK
Lot 152

A CHARLES II WALNUT MONTH-GOING STRIKING LONGCASE CLOCK

THE MOVEMENT BY JOSEPH KNIBB, LONDON, CIRCA 1675, THE CASE ASSOCIATED

Closed15 November 2017

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A CHARLES II WALNUT MONTH-GOING STRIKING LONGCASE CLOCK
THE MOVEMENT BY JOSEPH KNIBB, LONDON, CIRCA 1675, THE CASE ASSOCIATED
CASE: the rising hood with later floral-carved pediment above pierced sound fret and spiral turned columns, the carcase of cariniana wood, with restorations and replacements, plinth re-built DIAL: the 9 ½ inch brass dial with cherub spandrels, signed Joseph Knibb Londini fecit, the silvered chapter ring with Roman hours and Arabic five hours, date aperture and subsidiary seconds ring MOVEMENT: month duration movement with bolt and shutter maintaining power, recoil anchor escapement and count wheel strike to bell, later seatboard
80 ¼ in. (204 cm.) high; 16 ¼ in. (41 cm.) wide; 9 in. (23 cm.) deep

Almost certainly purchased from Meyrick Nielson, Tetbury, 1970s.
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Specialist note

Joseph Knibb (1640-1711), was the most inventive and prolific member of the celebrated Knibb family. He became free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1671. His first London premises were at the Dial in Fleet Street and in 1693 he moved to the Clock Dial near Charing Cross. He became a Steward in the Company in 1684 and an Assistant in 1689.

The use of cariniana as a carcase wood in early English clock cases was first noted by the late Ronald Lee. A very small number of examples are now known, ranging in date from circa 1659 to circa 1682. Most are associated with movements produced by members of the Knibb family, although clocks by other makers, such as Simon Bartram and Hilkiah Bedford, have also been found with cariniana cases. This rather select usage of cariniana may point to a common casemaker whose identity is as yet unknown, and to a limited supply of the timber. It is believed to have been recycled from export packing cases and often shows signs of this re-use.

For a discussion on the count wheel mechanism of the present clock, see Kirkpatrick (op.cit.)

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
R. A. Lee, The Knibb Family Clockmakers, Surrey, 1964, pp. 54-55.
A. Bowett, Woods in British Furniture-making 1400-1900, Kew, 2012, pp. 54-55.
R. Garnier and J. Carter, The Golden Age of English Horology - Masterpieces from the Tom Scott Collection, Winchester, 2015, p. 360.