Height

12¼ inches

Case

Typical Knibb Phase III case, ebony veneered on oak, the dome top with foliate mounts and surmounted by a gilt-brass foliate-tied handle, the flat-top main moulding set above a square door with inset wood fret on the top rail with S-scroll and mask escutcheons, glazed rectangular side apertures, the base moulding typically sitting on an oak board with ebony veneered edges.

Dial

The 6 inch square gilt-brass dial with latched feet, winged-cherub spandrels with matted centre, chapter-ring engraved with Roman hours with trident half-hour marks and Arabic numerals within the minute ring. Strike/Not strike lever at XII.

Movement

Fine twin-fusee movement, 4¾ by 6¾ inch plates, five latched vase-shaped pillars, going train with knife-edge verge escapement and short bob pendulum. Strike train governed by rack-and-snail striking the hours on the larger bell, the quarters repeated on the smaller bell. The all-over tulip engraved backplate within a line border signed in an arc Joseph Knibb Londini fecit.

Duration

8-day.

Provenance

Christie’s, London, 12 April 1988, lot 46 (£35,200).

Literature

Garnier & Carter, The Golden Age of English Horology, 2015, p.368-369.

Escapement

Knife-edge verge.