‘Mortar’ Timepiece by Thomas Cole

A miniature carriage clock timepiece by Thomas Cole and his brother James Fergusson Cole. The eight day single fusee movement with english lever escapement. The case is decorated with the ‘Rose and Trellis’ pattern as seen on another of Coles clocks retailed by Edward Dent with the same handle and case construction ( JB Hawkins, “The Hawkins Pictorial Survey of Cole Clocks...

An English gilt brass chronometer carriage timepiece with original travelling case, key and bill of sale. The grained gilt tapering case has a folding handle with bevelled glass panel to the top, bevelled glass panels to the sides and a solid rear plate with hand setting function and start/stop lever, signed Thomas Mercer and numbered 1184, dating from 1974 The silvered dial signed Thomas Mercer, with Roman numerals, subsidiary seconds dial and a state of wind indicator. Blued steel hands. The substantial eight day chain fusee movement with maintaining power, Earnshaw type detent escapement with a free-sprung palladium helical balance spring and heavy bimetallic balance. The original black leather tooled travelling case with lift out front cover is lined in blue velvet and the original safety winding key is stored in the top. Thomas Mercer was founded in 1858, and became one of the greatest chronometer makers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Ernest Shakleton used a Mercer chronometer on the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antartic Expedition, after the Endurance became trapped and destroyed in the pack ice, he heroically journeyed in a whaleboat, the James Caird, to South Georgia to get help for his stranded compatriots. He navigated with a Thomas Mercer chronometer...

An extraordinary rustic tripod table clock by Thomas Cole Retailed by E. White of London The circular green velvet-clad base supporting three equidistantly spaced brass imitation logs, from which the clock and its mechanism are suspended; housed within a brass bezel conformingly styled as naturalistic logs, the circular etched and engraved gilt dial with elegant blued steel hands, marked at 6 o'clock "E. White, 20 Cockspur St, London", having the hours marked in Roman numerals; the tapered two-tier movement has a six wheel train with five-spoke crossings between spotted plates, the upper section fixed by blued steel screws to the backplate, enclosing a Brocot-style deadbeat escapement incorporating rubies and train to the centre wheel, the pendulum of most unusual design styled as a lidded cauldron over a simulated fire. Complete with a glass dome and key. The front plate numbered “1637.” London made, circa 1861 Thomas Cole, (1800-1864) Son of Thomas Cole Snr, a Somerset clockmaker, his history and works are fully recorded in 'Thomas Cole & Victorian Clockmaking' by John B. Hawkins, published 1975, in Sydney. Known as a specialist in making decorative timepieces of the highest quality, Cole exhibited at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851; he warranted an 'honourable mention' in the Paris Exhibition of 1855 and the London 1862 Exposition International, where he was awarded a medal for 'excellence of taste and design'. Hawkins discuss Thomas Cole's tripod clocks...

A large oval strut clock By Thomas Cole The case constructed from gilt brass and designed to be as thin as possible, finely engraved throughout, of substantial oval size, and supported by means of a fold-out foot, the outer frame with floral engraved border, the silvered dial decorated in conforming manner and denoting the hours in Roman numerals with blued steel hands, its centre decorated in foliate patterns; the movement with four turned pillars, spring barrel, steel balance and lever escapement and signed to the backplate by the retailer, also denoted on the dial's cartouche "Thos Boxell, Brighton," and numbered to the rear. Circa 1860 Dimensions: H: 11 in / 28 cm Comparative Literature: Hawkins, J. B. Thomas Cole & Victorian Clockmaking. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1975; p. 90 (item 28), illustrating a related large oval strut clock. Thomas Cole (1800-1864) Son of Thomas Cole Snr, a Somerset clockmaker, Cole is known as a specialist in making decorative timepieces of the highest quality. He exhibited at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851; he warranted an 'honourable mention' in the Paris Exposition universelle of 1855 and the London 1862 International Exhibition, where he was awarded a medal for 'excellence of taste and design'. Thomas Boxell of Brighton...

A Fine English Tripod Table Regulator Clock by Thomas Cole, With Integral Thermometer and Barometer, Retailed by Hunt & Roskell, London Signed to the dial for the retailer ‘Hunt & Roskell, London.’ No. 1318 /38 The circular six-inch silvered dial with cast bezel, signed ‘Hunt & Roskell, London’, above Roman chapters and blued steel spade hands, set with a large subsidiary seconds dial below XII, the centre finely engraved with scrolling strapwork decoration. The steel winding square protruding through an engraved and shaped plate immediately below 6 o'clock with handset achieved by adjustment to the rear. The movement with tapered plates joined by cylindrical screwed pillars, a two-part backplate, a going barrel, and deadbeat escapement. The pendulum suspended from the apex of the tripod from a G-bracket, with plumb line above, fine regulation achieved by a sliding cylindrical weight on the rod, terminating in a heavy silvered spherical bob secured via Cole's pendulum-locking system. The case formed of three cylindrical rods set on a gilt and stepped circular base engraved with scrolling foliage, the recessed centre with a semi-circular glazed barometer with silvered register scale, blued steel hand and manually adjustable gilt recording hand. The tilted thermometer within an engraved and gilded surround. Below the tip of the pendulum is a beat scale resting on a bimetallic bar providing thermal compensation, the base resting on three adjustable gilt-metal levelling nuts. Retaining its original glass dome and brass winding key. England, Circa 1855. This fine and rare timepiece by Thomas Cole is a masterpiece of design. Described by Hawkins in 'Thomas Cole & Victorian Clockmaking' as “the first English table regulator for a gentleman’s library table,” Cole’s strut clock underwent over eight iterations before achieving a design that combined precision with extraordinary elegance. The use of a tripod to determine the optimal pendulum suspension point is just one of several ingenious mechanisms Cole employed. Three adjustable nuts serving as feet allow for effective levelling of the clock, while a plumb line and bob ensure precise vertical alignment. Relocating the winding square directly beneath the dial eliminates the risk of scratching the surface or damaging the hands, while the inclusion of a thermometer, angled at 45 degrees, effectively conceals the beat scale and pendulum locking mechanism. Ingeniously designed, the locking mechanism positioned just below the pendulum’s tip includes a beat scale resting on a brass bar that can be raised to secure the pendulum in place. This mechanism also provides thermal compensation through a bi-metallic strip, which automatically raises or lowers the bob in response to temperature fluctuations. Both inventive and aesthetically striking, this rare clock exemplifies the highly ornamental Victorian timepieces...

This beautiful desk timepiece is a rare strut clock, in the form of a gilded scallop shell, with an engine turned silvered roman dial set behind a bevelled glass with distinctive fle...

A Superb Coromandel-Veneered Mantle Clock The case constructed of very well-figured Coromandel giving the maximum amount of decorative effect, with gilt bronze accents; the plinth base of rectangular form, with everted stepped corners, and precisely chased gilt bronze figures, two representing Mercury-the god of travel and merchants with his winged helmet and coin purse in hand; the others representing Fortuna-the goddess of luck; the sides glazed, with mooresque arcaded pierced mounts enclosing a vase, in gilt bronze with overlapping palm trees above: the top of domed form with an octagonal platform, surmounted by an architectural dome, its engraved detail and structure reminiscent of Byzantine prototypes. The silvered chapter ring with Roman numerals for the hours, and within an arabesque dial divided into quadrants, with the key aperture at 6 o'clock. Below, the manual calendar, and a semi-circular thermometer. The dial signed by the retailer "Hunt & Roskell / London." The mechanism replaced with a one-year duration movement by Achille Brocot. English, circa 1860 A closely related clock, by Thomas Cole, though not bearing his signature, with a case of identical form and differing bronze decoration, previously with Butchoff. A third known coromandel-veneered example, also unsigned, is discussed by John...

Early Victorian Strut clock in the style of Thomas Cole. Gilded frame with engraved scroll work, oval beaded bezel surrounding a beautiful e...

Fine mahogany sedan timepiece, rectangular case with glazed front giving way to a silvered dial with Roman numerals, finely cut ‘blued’ steel hands and signed ‘Aubert and Klaftenberg...

This highly decorative skeleton timepiece signed Webster, London has a single fusee eight day movement regulated by a brass cylinder pendulum. With a very finely made deadbeat escapement and sixty tooth escape wheel. The silvered roman dial is intersected with a subsidiary seconds dial of unusual design. The plates are very finely pierced in a Gothicized Arabesque pattern of foliate scrollwork mounted on an ebonised base with its original glass dome finished in a brocade cord to protect the edge of the glass. Dating from circa 1830 this clock was made buy Richard Webster of the famed family of clockmakers that can be traced back to William Webster who was apprenticed to Thomas Tompion “The Father of English Clockmaking”. Richard Webster, the second in a series of Richards, who moved the family business from 26 Exchange Alley to 43 Cornhill around 1813. The company traded from 43 Cornhill and later 74 Cornhill. Richard Webster was chronometer maker to the Admiralty and to the East India Company. Under Richard Webster II the business seemingly went from strength to strength, at one point occupying two premises – at 74 Cornhill and at nearby 3 Birchin Lane. The Webster name was so well known by now that the surname alone would suffice when signing clock faces. This clock has been serviced and is ready to ship. Richard Webster is listed in Brian Loomes’ “Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World – 21st century edition” as working between 1810 and 1840 Simon C. Davidson, “Box Chronometers for India 1800-1936,” Antiquarian Horology, no.4, vol.35, December 2014 Jeremy Evans, Jonathan Carter & Ben Wright...