| Dial | The 10½ inch (267 mm) square brass dial with elaborate winged cherub and foliate spandrels to the corners and centrally signed along the lower edge AFromanteel Newcastle. The silvered brass chapter ring with an inner quarter division ring, Roman hour numerals with stylised fleur-de-lys half-hour marks, and outer Arabic minutes, marked every 5, within the division ring. The finely matted centre with seconds ring below XII and square-chamfered date aperture above VI, shuttered winding holes and original well-sculpted Fromanteel pattern hands in blued steel. The whole dial held to the movement frontplate by four latched dial feet. |
| Movement | The tall movement, chamfered to the top corners, with four latched finned baluster pillars and the two trains with large great wheels on each barrel; the going with bolt-and-shutter maintaining power via a large scroll-shaped lever between the plates, and an anchor escapement with long inverted-V-shaped pallets and a corresponding inverted-heart-shaped access aperture in the backplate; the strike train governed by an internal countwheel, mounted directly onto the greatwheel, and striking the hours on a large bell above. |
| Duration | 8 days |
| Provenance | RT Gwyn Collection, inventory no.C17 until sold 30 August 2000; |
| Literature | Antiquarian Horology, September 1969, Aghib, ‘The Elusive Fromanteel’, p.212-215; |
| Escapement | Anchor with long inverted V-shaped pallets |
| Strike Type | Internal hour countwheel mounted to the greatwheel |
Exhibit № 28. Abraham Fromanteel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Circa 1685
A very rare James II eight-day hour striking longcase clock movement
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Abraham Fromanteel (c.1646-1730) was born in London in c.1646, he was the son of Ahasuerus I, and brother to John. Abraham was apprenticed to his father in 1662, however in c.1666, Ahasuerus I went to the continent for over 10 years and it is probable that Abraham went with him for some, or all, of that time. In 1668 Ahasuerus I shifted legal responsibility for his London interests from his son in law, the recently deceased clockmaker Thomas Loomes, to his wife Mary Loomes, who was Ahasuerus’s daughter and …widdouw to his true and lawfull attorney… the document was witnessed in The Hague by one, Abraham Fromanteel. Whatever the specific circumstances, Abraham was not made Free of the Clockmakers’ until 1680, well after their return to London and thus remained an apprentice for 18 years, Ahasuerus I petioning the Clockmakers …he [Abraham] has beene seuerall yeares beyond the sea, but is now & been seuerall yeares in London, and hath abroad and here followed the Trade of a clockmaker in makeing & selling Clocks & Watches.
Abraham probably continued working under the family name of Fromanteel London and when called upon to be Steward by the Clockmakers’ in July 1694, he refused, as he was forthwith going to Holland and not returning until Michelmas 1697. Loomes notes that Abraham was in London until about 1711, but probably spent a lot of time in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where a small number of his clocks, such as this example, are signed. He died in Newcastle in 1730, aged 84.
Product Description
Abraham Fromanteel (c.1646-1730) was born in London in c.1646, he was the son of Ahasuerus I, and brother to John. Abraham was apprenticed to his father in 1662, however in c.1666, Ahasuerus I went to the continent for over 10 years and it is probable that Abraham went with him for some, or all, of that time. In 1668 Ahasuerus I shifted legal responsibility for his London interests from his son in law, the recently deceased clockmaker Thomas Loomes, to his wife Mary Loomes, who was Ahasuerus’s daughter and …widdouw to his true and lawfull attorney… the document was witnessed in The Hague by one, Abraham Fromanteel. Whatever the specific circumstances, Abraham was not made Free of the Clockmakers’ until 1680, well after their return to London and thus remained an apprentice for 18 years, Ahasuerus I petioning the Clockmakers …he [Abraham] has beene seuerall yeares beyond the sea, but is now & been seuerall yeares in London, and hath abroad and here followed the Trade of a clockmaker in makeing & selling Clocks & Watches.
Abraham probably continued working under the family name of Fromanteel London and when called upon to be Steward by the Clockmakers’ in July 1694, he refused, as he was forthwith going to Holland and not returning until Michelmas 1697. Loomes notes that Abraham was in London until about 1711, but probably spent a lot of time in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where a small number of his clocks, such as this example, are signed. He died in Newcastle in 1730, aged 84.
Additional information
| Dimensions | 5827373 cm |
|---|
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