Lincolnshire timepiece chimes out at auction

By William Gregory MRICS, Golding Young and Mawer.
At a recent auction held in Grantham, a bracket clock topped the Timepiece section. The nineteenth-century mahogany clock case was decorated with orb finials, lion mask handles, blind fret sides and inlaid with a diamond shaped pattern.

Within this impressive case was an arched dial and an eight-day double fusee movement striking on bells that lift the clock to a special status. The added features included playing a gong on the hour, and a tune for each day of the week. The maker was Thomas Nelson, a noted Lincolnshire clock maker of the early nineteenth-century residing in Market Deeping.

The pre-auction estimate of £1,200-£1,400 proved to be on the conservative side, but maximised interest, resulting in a final bid of £3,700 selling to a Dutch collector.

Another clock of note included in the auction was a Jaeger-Lecoultre Atmos clock. The Swiss manufactured clock dated from the mid twentieth-century. The special feature of this clock is that it does not need to be wound manually as it stores energy from temperature and atmospheric changes.

Bidding on the clock stopped just short of £500, as it sold for £470.

A fine Queen Anne walnut and marquetry inlaid long case clock combined tradition with decorative appeal; the brass dial was engraved Joseph Saer, Perpoole Laine, London. This combination along with its eight-day striking movement attracted multiple bidders and a final selling price of £2,400.

A later mahogany wall clock again by a London maker, this time Richard Reevers, saw a doubling of the auction estimate, selling with a final bid of £1,300.

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