Lot 51
JONATHAN PULLER, LONDON. A VERY RARE MINIATURE GRANDE SONNERIE STRIKING AND QUARTER REPEATING TABLE CLOCK MOVEMENTCirca 1690
14 April 2022, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$44,475 inc. premium
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JONATHAN PULLER, LONDON. A VERY RARE MINIATURE GRANDE SONNERIE STRIKING AND QUARTER REPEATING TABLE CLOCK MOVEMENT
Date: Circa 1690
Movement: Triple fusee (now with chains), divided front plate, eight latched baluster pillars, verge escapement now pivoted employing a near contemporary adapted pierced watch cock as potence, faceted bob pendulum engraved 1-8 for regulation, striking on two bells by means of hour and quarter racks planted on the front plates, trip quarter repeat activated by twin linked steel levers mounted on the backplate signed, JonathPuller / LONDINI / Fecit, within a scroll cartouche, the backplate profusely engraved with leafy scrolls within a wheatear border in the style of Tompion's engraver G.195. Retains one (of four) steel securing brackets for the case.
Dial: 5-inch square gilt, winged cherub spandrels, silvered roman chapter ring with sword hilt half hour marks, two separate strike/silent levers for hours and quarters at XII o'clock, chamfered date aperture in the matted center, finely pierced blued hour hand (repaired, minute hand lacking)
Signed: Movement and dial
Movement: Triple fusee (now with chains), divided front plate, eight latched baluster pillars, verge escapement now pivoted employing a near contemporary adapted pierced watch cock as potence, faceted bob pendulum engraved 1-8 for regulation, striking on two bells by means of hour and quarter racks planted on the front plates, trip quarter repeat activated by twin linked steel levers mounted on the backplate signed, JonathPuller / LONDINI / Fecit, within a scroll cartouche, the backplate profusely engraved with leafy scrolls within a wheatear border in the style of Tompion's engraver G.195. Retains one (of four) steel securing brackets for the case.
Dial: 5-inch square gilt, winged cherub spandrels, silvered roman chapter ring with sword hilt half hour marks, two separate strike/silent levers for hours and quarters at XII o'clock, chamfered date aperture in the matted center, finely pierced blued hour hand (repaired, minute hand lacking)
Signed: Movement and dial
Footnotes
Jonathan Puller (c. 1662- c. 1707) was apprenticed to Nicholas Coxeter in 1676, then passed over to John Miller on Coxeter's death in 1679. He was made Free of the Clockmakers' Company in September 1683. He occupied premises in Red Lion Court, close to Thomas Tompion's in Fleet Street. Over the next twenty four years, he is recorded as having employed eight apprentices. He was made Assistant in 1701 and attended Court until 1707, when he is presumed to have died.
Miniature table clocks from the late 17th Century are rare but this movement is a true tour de force of clockmaking. No 17th century movement of this size, combining a three train, split-plate, full Grande Sonnerie striking and repeating is recorded by a maker other than Puller. The other known examples include:
Christie's, London. 13 June 2000, lot 74
Van den Ende, Hans, et al. Huygens Legacy: The Golden Age of the Pendulum Clock, (2004) pp214-217
Christie's, London. 3 July 2007, lot 166 (with significant alterations)
Dzik, Sunny. Engraving on English Table Clocks, (2019) p181, fig. 10-11; illustrated as clock P1-3.
The similarity of these clocks to the work of Thomas Tompion and Joseph Knibb has been noted. In the first case, the proximity of the Puller and Tompion workshops may account for the influence. On the other hand, John Miller was apprenticed to both Samuel and Joseph Knibb. All these clocks share features that are also found in the present movement. These include the split front plate, latched pillars, Tompion style twin repeat levers and backplate engraving. Where documented, the engraving has been attributed to Tompion's engraver, G.195. (See Evans, Carter and Wright. Thomas Tompion 300 Years, 2013, p.180-183)
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