Small Verge Lantern Wall Clock, Signed Richard Peckover

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Small Verge Lantern Wall Clock, Signed Richard Peckover

About the Item

The 30 hour movement is of a typical lantern clock construction with four cast brass pillars with top and bottom plates which support the vertical movement plates, these and thus the wheels are held in place by dovetail wedges. A hole in the extended top plate and two steel spikes (to keep the clock vertical) are used to attach the timepiece to the wall. The 5” break-arch dial has female mask-head spandrels in each corner. Silvered chapter ring engraved with quarter divisions on the inner ring and lozenge half-hour markers. It is interesting to note the riveted dial foot between the VII-VIII; showing that the chapters were engraved before being fitted to the dial plate. Signed Rich’d Peckover London on a circular cartouche in the dial arch. Richard Peckover was a fine clockmaker, it is thought he was the successor to Daniel Quare & Stephen Horseman in Exchange Alley after they went bankrupt in 1733. Small lantern timepieces seemed to have been made with the intention of being used as versatile and portable alarms. In very rare examples they can be seen complete with oak boxes, fitted with compartments to take the different sized weights and even a hook on which to hang the clock. It is therefore notable that if this was their function why are so many extant timepieces, seemingly made to take alarms, even fitted with an alarm disc and having all the holes where the various components would be located, more often than not without the alarm? One can conclude that they have been discarded because they didn't function properly as witnessed in the more complicated quarter repeating bracket clocks. But this appears unlikely; the alarm verge would only ever have the fraction of use as the going train even if it were set every hour. Unlike a faulty quarter train, a malfunctioning alarm would not affect the normal running of the clock or be a potential cause of stopping. The large number of missing alarms leads one to look for other possible explanations. When studying early advertisements for clocks it's striking how many options the potential buyer was offered; different dials, functions, cases and even without a case with the differences being reflected in the price. Clocks were expensive and a significant outlay to many, varying tariffs and methods of payment were relevant. The components and fitting of an alarm mechanism is not much less work or involved than the simple verge timepiece. It consists of a winding unit attached to a crown wheel, which drives a verge and hammer. It can be reasonable to conclude that many of these wall clocks were never originally fitted with alarms. It is possible to fit an alarm but this is an extra expenditure and many collectors prefer a more conservationist approach, which requires less extensive restoration. Signed/Inscribed/Dated: Rich'd Peckover, London.

Dimensions:
Height: 7.29 in (18.5 cm)Width: 4.93 in (12.5 cm)Depth: 4.73 in (12 cm)
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
1750
Condition:
Alarm work missing. Timepiece in full working order with two year guarantee.
Seller Location:
Kent, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU97521057470