| Height | 3¼ inches (83 mm) diameter, 2¼ inches (57 mm) high |
| Case | The small cylindrical brass case of multi-piece construction, retaining traces of gilding. The top and bottom of turned gilt brass, step-turned to take the tubular brass centre that is overlaid with a later pierced and engraved silver floral cover. The top and bottom surface edge-banded with floral and foliate engraving with the dial resting atop and four hoof-shaped feet. The alarm bell is visible below and held by a four-arm strap to the spring loaded hinged base. |
| Dial | The 2¾ inch (70 mm) circular solid-silver chapter ring with a quarter division ring within Roman hours and simplified fleur-de-lys half-hour marks between. The central rotating gilt-brass alarm dial engraved with flowers and foliage inside the Arabic alarm hours, with a later steel arrow-shaped touch-piece, and pointer, fixed in the original hole at 12, for telling the time against the silver chapter ring. The simple central steel hand for setting the alarm. |
| Movement | The circular plates held by four square footed turned vase pillars pinned to the backplate, all with traces of the original gilding. The going train has a fusee, chain and flanged barrel, verge escapement with brass crown and contrate wheels, the pierced and engraved cross-pinned cock holding a later upgraded spring balance with regulation disc. The alarm driven by a fixed pierced and engraved spring barrel with brass contrate and steel crownwheel to a cocked verge arbor, with hammer sounding on the bell below. The backplate retains much of the original gilding and is signed Eduardus East fecit, secured in the case with a single blued steel turn catch, supported by the dial. |
| Duration | 30 hour |
| Provenance | Sotheby’s, 1st Dec. 1978, lot 5; |
| Literature | Horological Masterworks, 2003, (illus.) p.18-19; |
| Escapement | Verge with upgraded spring balance and original cross-pinned cock |
Exhibit № 1. Edward East, London, Circa 1635
An early and very rare Charles I circular horizontal table timepiece with alarm
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This extraordinary horizontal timepiece alarm clock is only a little bigger than a large watch and is one of a small select group of surviving table clocks from this pre-pendulum period. A form of horizontal clock was being produced in London from late Elizabethan times by ‘alien’ Huguenot makers, John Vallin and his son Nicholas, while by the early 1650s similar clocks were also being produced in Holland by the likes of Salomon Coster, working in the Hague. Meanwhile in London, East’s great rival was Ahasuerus Fromanteel and it was not until he advertised the new pendulum clocks in 1658, that clockmaking in London started to truly diverge from its counterparts on the continent, finally entering its ‘Golden Age’.
Product Description
This extraordinary horizontal timepiece alarm clock is only a little bigger than a large watch and is one of a small select group of surviving table clocks from this pre-pendulum period. A form of horizontal clock was being produced in London from late Elizabethan times by ‘alien’ Huguenot makers, John Vallin and his son Nicholas, while by the early 1650s similar clocks were also being produced in Holland by the likes of Salomon Coster, working in the Hague. Meanwhile in London, East’s great rival was Ahasuerus Fromanteel and it was not until he advertised the new pendulum clocks in 1658, that clockmaking in London started to truly diverge from its counterparts on the continent, finally entering its ‘Golden Age’.
Additional information
| Dimensions | 5827373 cm |
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