Exhibit № 31: The Sidereal Tompion Regulator, No. 483. Circa 1709

Exhibit № 31: The Sidereal Tompion Regulator, No. 483. Circa 1709

A unique and highly important Queen Anne Type 3 ebonised sidereal and mean solar time month-going longcase regulator by Thomas Tompion & Edward Banger

This highly important and complex regulator is unique within Tompion’s oeuvre and was undoubtedly a special commission. It was started before 1708 and, in common with almost all other ground-breaking horological innovations that Tompion produced between 1702 and 1708, it was feasibly ordered by his prolific patron, Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland and husband of Queen Anne (1665-1714), who died before it was completed.  In 1703, the queen had famously refused payment of debts accumulated by the late king, William III (see p.216) and this time, it appears Tompion completed the clock in an unusually thrifty ebonised case, and sold it to cover his undoubtedly very considerable costs.

In The Golden Age of English Horology, 2015, Garnier devotes a chapter to Queen Anne’s husband, George of Denmark, as Tompion’s most ambitious patron. Denmark was famously at odds with William III and the weight of evidence leans towards Denmark competitively commissioning (or re-commissioning) a large number of Tompion’s most ambitious and highly complicated productions during this period, from 1702 when he gained access to the royal purse, until his death in 1708 (see putative list on p.220).This special commission is the only known Tompion to show geared mean solar and sidereal time. That the pendulum should be regulated to mean solar time so that it is sidereal time that is read from the outer, rotating chapter-ring is proved by the fact that if the pendulum is regulated to sidereal time, after a year the sidereal year lacks a day.

Garnier argues that the one of the last items in the Denmark group of Tompion commissions may be this, the mean and sidereal longcase regulator by Tompion and Banger, no.483. It re-emerged in the possession of the Compton family of Minstead Manor in Hampshire, a member of which sold the clock at auction in 1982. However, none of that family from the time the clock was made is particularly known for interest in scientific endeavour. Garnier notes that As the only clock by Tompion to show a directly geared comparison of mean and sidereal time, and in the light of the present analysis of Prince George of Denmark’s interest in complicated clocks related to his scientific interests, he stands out as a very likely candidate for having commissioned such a clock, but it was not finished after his death in 1708 and, as Anne was famously less interested in horology, it was very unlikely to have been paid for; earlier Treasury papers from 19th May 1703 indicate The Queen reads the petition of Thomas Tompion praying payment of 564l. 15s. 0d. due to him for clocks, watches &c. presented by the late King [William III] to the Duke of Florence. The Queen’s reply is her Majesty has no occasion for his clocks and watches.

There is plenty of evidence of clocks and watches being exchanged and resold by both Tompion and Graham, and whether this important clock was resold straight away is open to conjecture, but its expense would have made recouping the costs a priority, which the ebonised case apparently reflects, while the overlaid Tompion signature plate might indicate that it was finished and sold before 1713. What we do know is that Henry Compton was constructing his new house, Minstead Manor in Hampshire, and that it was finally completed in 1719. If the clock had returned to Graham, it is quite conceivable that Compton visited Graham in Fleet Street looking for a suitable longcase for his new house and, perhaps impressed by this fabulously complicated clock, bought it then.

It was sometimes thought that this clock was retro-fitted with its deadbeat escapement for Mr. Compton on his purchase of it, following Graham’s recent perfection of his deadbeat. However, when Professor Hall owned this important clock, he had the composition of the wheelwork tested at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art of Oxford University. The impurity composition of the deadbeat escape wheel was very similar to all the other parts of the Tompion examined, but it was also pointed out that analysis of a Graham, dated to 1722, was in three instances very similar to the Tompion composition. The conclusion was that while no positive deduction could be drawn, the possibility or even probability should be entertained that Graham incorporated the deadbeat in this clock during Tompion’s lifetime.

A putative list of Tompion commissions, ordered by Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland:

1. Tompion, no. 365: ‘The Victoria’ walnut month-going, striking longcase clock, circa 1701-2 (Private collection, USA).
2. Tompion, no. 369: ‘The Monaco’ ebony and silver-mounted, mid-size Ph.2, striking spring clock with quarter repeat, circa 1702 (Private collection).
3. Tompion, un-numbered: ‘The Admiralty’ year-going longcase, circa 1702-3 , dial and case 19th century (Government Art Collection, Ministry of Defence, London).
4. Tompion & Banger, un-numbered: ‘The Denmark’ walnut and gilt-metal, year-going equation longcase clock with perpetual calendar, circa 1703 (Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, RCIN 2754).
5. Tompion, no. 388: ‘The von Plessen’ ebony Ph.3 with arms, striking spring clock with quarter repeat, circa 1703 (Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, RCIN 30362).
6. Tompion, un-numbered: ‘The Cumberland-Gifford’ gilt-metal and silver, Grande Sonnerie, dual control, pendulum/balance miniature travelling clock with alarm, circa 1704-5 (British Museum, London, no.1986,0306.1).
7. Tompion & Banger, no.410: ‘The Habsburg’ ebony Ph.3 with arms, three-train, Grande Sonnerie spring clock, circa 1703-4 (Private collection).
8. Tompion & Banger, un-numbered: ‘The Scott-Cumberland’ three-train quarter striking, year-going, equation spring clock with perpetual calendar, circa 1705-8 (Private collection).
9. Tompion & Banger/Tompion no.417: ‘The Hanover’ turtleshell and gilt-metal Grande Sonnerie spring clock, circa 1704-8 (Private collection).
10. Tompion & Banger (Graham plaque) no.428: ‘The Leap-Year’ walnut and gilt-metal, equation and calendar, month-going longcase clock, circa 1705-7 (Private collection).
11. Tompion & Banger, no.436: ‘The Conyngham’ turtleshell and gilt-metal three-train Grande Sonnerie spring clock, circa 1706 (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge inv. no. M.4-1965).
12. Tompion & Banger, no.460: ‘The Barnard’ ebony and silver-mounted, miniature Ph.2, striking spring clock with quarter repeat, original travel box, circa 1707 (The Science Museum, London, obj. no. 2019-199).
13. Tompion & Banger/Tompion no.483: ‘The Sidereal’, ebonised month-going, mean and sidereal longcase clock, circa 1707-9 (The current example, John C Taylor inventory no.117).
14. Tompion & Graham, un-numbered: ebony and silver-mounted orrery, completed circa 1710, and traditionally considered as made for Queen Anne, but more likely bespoke by George of Denmark before his death in 1708 (Museum of History of Science, Oxford, inv. no. 45104).

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