Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
Lot 79TP
A late 18th century chinoiserie decorated tavern clock William Valentine, In Baldock Street, Royston
2 July 2025, 13:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £8,320 inc. premium
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A late 18th century chinoiserie decorated tavern clock
William Valentine, In Baldock Street, Royston
The 26 inch white painted dial with Roman and Arabic numerals and minute track within a deeply moulded cornice, shuttered winding square and gilt spade hands, the minute hand counterpoised. The trunk straight-sided and terminating in a chisel foot with moulded surface, the arched door with a coloured print of a lady holding weighing scales beside a gentleman, signed in full above Willm. Valentine IN BALDOCK STREET ROYSTON. The single train weight-driven movement with shaped plates united by five knopped pillars, the five-wheel train with anchor escapement. Ticking, sold together with a door key, pendulum and shallow lead weight. 142cms (56ins) high.
The 26 inch white painted dial with Roman and Arabic numerals and minute track within a deeply moulded cornice, shuttered winding square and gilt spade hands, the minute hand counterpoised. The trunk straight-sided and terminating in a chisel foot with moulded surface, the arched door with a coloured print of a lady holding weighing scales beside a gentleman, signed in full above Willm. Valentine IN BALDOCK STREET ROYSTON. The single train weight-driven movement with shaped plates united by five knopped pillars, the five-wheel train with anchor escapement. Ticking, sold together with a door key, pendulum and shallow lead weight. 142cms (56ins) high.
Footnotes
William Valentine was working in Baldock Street, Royston between 1765 and 1771. Though little is recorded about his output, he is listed during this period as a producer of longcases, bracket clocks and in this case tavern clocks.
The print depicted on this clock is The Light Guinea, or the Blade in the Dumps, a satirical hand-coloured mezzotint published circa 1773–1774 by Carington Bowles. It captures a humorous and morally pointed scene: a young woman, likely a courtesan, sits at a table in an interior setting weighing a guinea in a set of scales. Opposite her stands a fashionably dressed young man, whose coin has evidently been found wanting. The title plays on the double meaning of "light guinea" (a coin underweight or debased) and the implication of his moral character. This popular print comments on themes of deception and transactional relationships. An example of this very print is held in the collection of the British Museum.
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