Lot 185

A collection of a lantern clock and a table clock
George Harris in Fritwell fecit, 365 mm, circa 1680
A rare hour striking lantern clock
Case: brass, gilt. Dial: brass, applied chapter ring with inlaid radial Roman numerals. Movm.: iron train, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 weights with pulleys, verge escapement, short pendulum.
The dial of this large lantern clock is decorated with fine floral engraving and the case is embellished with gilt Doric columns and the large bell is framed by balusters and open-work ornamentation with a fish motif. The weights are - unlike in most other lantern clocks - coiled on guided pulleys instead of using reels with smaller counterweights.
George Harris was born around 1619 and died in 1694. He probably worked near Fritwell in the south of England, a parish approximately 100 km west of London, for most of his life. In addition to his timepieces, he also created a commemorative plaque in the parish church of Deddington and in 1669 and 1682 he repaired several church clocks. The use of pulleys seems to have been a favoured construction type at the time in the Frithwell area.

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