18^th Century – London Made Bracket Clock – William Carter, Southwark, London

William Carter was registered as a Clock Making Business from 1760 to 1836 at 95 Bermondsey Street, Southwark, London. William Carter, as the founder, made clocks until his death in 1801 –the business then passed on to his son. The building of London Bridge Station for the London Greenwich Railway in 1836 caused massive disruption to businesses across Southwark and Bermondsey, causing many to close or move. Particularly affected were those along Bermondsey Street, as problems with building the Bridge there caused major delays not only to the construction of the railway line but also to the movement of traffic and trade to the area. It may well be the reason why this flourishing clockmaker closed.

This clock is a classical Georgian Period Bracket Clock. There are many illustrations of this style of elegant London Clock in Richard Barder’s Book “The Georgian Bracket Clock, 1714 – 1830”  but this  is a very fine example of the genre.

A very attractive clock – the classical case with London, Bell top design, complete with brass carrying handle and silk lining includes rococo cast brass quarter frets to the top of the front door. Brass side panels are also geometrically fretted and silk lined. The whole clock stands on cast brass bracket feet and is topped by cast brass acorn finials. The entire case is veneered with the finest cuts of deep richly coloured mahogany.

The weekly wound movement is double fusee with a verge escapement. It strikes the hours on a bell with a pull repeat mechanism, allowing the last hour to be struck again, at will.

The movement backplate is engraved with an all over rococo design incorporating an urn on a pedestal. There is a matching engraving on the pendulum apron. The Brass dial is very attractive with a silent strike feature on the arch. The chapter ring is silvered and engraved with roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the 5 minute divisions.  The silent strike ring is also silvered as is the name panel. The Spandrels are gilded. There is a finely matted dial centre with a clear engraving of the maker’s signature on a sunken cartouche below the 12 o’clock position. The date square is neatly positioned above the six. All complimented by a fine set of blued steel hands.

Dating from about 1770 this is a fine and very desirable Georgian Bracket clock of a style that is now almost impossible to find. It is in particularly fine condition with beautiful veneers, colour and patination.

€12,500