- 11
Thomas Tompion, London
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- A FINE AND RARE GOLD PAIR CASED VERGE WATCH WITH EARLY APPLICATION OF THE BALANCE SPRING IN LATER CASEMOVEMENT CIRCA 1682, CASE 1717, NO. .86.
- gold, gilt metal
- width 54.5 mm
• Movement: gilded full plate, verge escapement, decorative floral engraved balance cock and foot, steel three-arm balance with early hairspring, silver regulator plate, mainspring set-up between the plates, fusee and chain, tulip pillars • signed Tho. Tompion, London and numbered 19.86 and numbered .86 beneath the dial
• Dial: later gold champlevé, Roman numerals, half hour divisions beneath, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands • signed Tompion London
• Case: later gold cases, plain gold inner case hallmarked 1717, gold outer case with square hinge and narrow neck, case back with engraved monogram beneath a coronet, both cases with maker’s mark WI for William Jaques
• Dial: later gold champlevé, Roman numerals, half hour divisions beneath, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands • signed Tompion London
• Case: later gold cases, plain gold inner case hallmarked 1717, gold outer case with square hinge and narrow neck, case back with engraved monogram beneath a coronet, both cases with maker’s mark WI for William Jaques
Literature
Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, 2009, p. 116, pl. 53
Jeremy Evans, Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns, 2006, p.88
Cecil Clutton, Collector’s Collection, 1974, pp. 10-12
Jeremy Evans, Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns, 2006, p.88
Cecil Clutton, Collector’s Collection, 1974, pp. 10-12
Condition
Movement working at the time of cataloguing, dial and hands in good condition. pendant and bow appear to date to the mid. 18th C. minute denting to the band of the inner case, minor scuffs throughout. Monogram to the back of the outer case slightly rubbed. Joint solid and case closing securely, requires a pin or other implement to open the outer case.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. All dimensions in catalogue descriptions are approximate. Condition reports may not specify mechanical replacements or imperfections to the movement, case, dial, pendulum, separate base(s) or dome. Watches in water-resistant cases have been opened to examine movements but no warranties are made that the watches are currently water-resistant. Please note that we do not guarantee the authenticity of any individual component parts, such as wheels, hands, crowns, crystals, screws, bracelets and leather bands, since subsequent repairs and restoration work may have resulted in the replacement of original parts. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. In particular, please note it is the purchaser's responsibility to comply with any applicable import and export matters, particularly in relation to lots incorporating materials from endangered species.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
**Please be advised that bands made of materials derived from endangered or otherwise protected species (i.e. alligator and crocodile) are not sold with the watches and are for display purposes only. We reserve the right to remove these bands prior to shipping."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. All dimensions in catalogue descriptions are approximate. Condition reports may not specify mechanical replacements or imperfections to the movement, case, dial, pendulum, separate base(s) or dome. Watches in water-resistant cases have been opened to examine movements but no warranties are made that the watches are currently water-resistant. Please note that we do not guarantee the authenticity of any individual component parts, such as wheels, hands, crowns, crystals, screws, bracelets and leather bands, since subsequent repairs and restoration work may have resulted in the replacement of original parts. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. In particular, please note it is the purchaser's responsibility to comply with any applicable import and export matters, particularly in relation to lots incorporating materials from endangered species.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
**Please be advised that bands made of materials derived from endangered or otherwise protected species (i.e. alligator and crocodile) are not sold with the watches and are for display purposes only. We reserve the right to remove these bands prior to shipping."
Catalogue Note
The movement of this watch has a coded number of two dots either side of 86 (.86.) and, using Jeremy Evans’ research into Tompion’s numbering (Antiquarian Horology, June 1984), can be decoded as 286. By using the numbered listings within Evans’ book, Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns and comparing the watches by Tompion listed therein which have been successfully dated either by hallmark dates and/or case makers marks, one can deduce that the movement of the present watch was made around 1682. As such, this is one of the earliest watches to have been fitted with a balance spring.
Further evidence for the dating of the movement is provided by the style of cock table and neck which compares with other Tompions of the period. The regulator is also an example of the type attributed to Tompion with simple divisions to the silver figure plate. The figure 19 prefixes the original number (the 1 partly beneath the cock foot); it is over the gilding and clearly later (there is no prefix to the original number .86. on the
plate under the dial). The later case is hallmarked 1717 and the style of the dial and hands would appear to be contemporary with the case suggesting the watch was updated to the latest fashion.
Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), the greatest of English clockmakers was born the son of a blacksmith at Ickfield Green, a hamlet in the parish of Northill, Bedfordshire. It seems that he was trained, with his younger brother James, in the art of blacksmithing. ‘When you next set your watch’, wrote the poet Matthew Prior (1664-1721), ‘remember that Tompion was a farrier and began his great knowledge in the Equation of Time by regulating the wheels of a common Jack, to roast meat’.
Very little is known of Tompion’s early life, but he was likely involved at some point in the repair of the local church clock, as this was usually a blacksmith’s work. Perhaps he developed his passion for horology from this. There is no record of Thomas Tompion serving as an apprentice in a clockmaker’s workshop, but on September 4th, 1671, he was admitted to the Clockmakers’ Company and became Master in 1704.
In 1674 Tompion was introduced to Robert Hooke, the most important English experimental physicist of the 17th century. The following year, 1675, Hooke employed Tompion to make a watch with a special double-spring on the balance. On 7th
April, Hooke, accompanied by Tompion and Sir Jonas Moore, went to Whitehall Palace and showed the watch to King Charles II. The King was so impressed that he ordered a watch from Tompion for his own use.
Tompion employed several apprentices, most notably, Edward Banger, who married Tompion’s niece in 1694 and became free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1695. He formed a partnership with Tompion in 1701 but some years later a serious quarrel appears to have taken place and, after about 1708, they ceased to collaborate. The cause of the quarrel is not known but could possibly have been the result of rivalry between Banger and George Graham. The latter had worked as a journeyman in Tompion’s workshop since 1696 and had married another of his nieces. He was taken into partnership by Tompion in 1710 and succeeded the business on Tompion’s death in November 1713. Tompion was buried in Westminster Abbey, indicating the high esteem in which he was held, during his lifetime.
Further evidence for the dating of the movement is provided by the style of cock table and neck which compares with other Tompions of the period. The regulator is also an example of the type attributed to Tompion with simple divisions to the silver figure plate. The figure 19 prefixes the original number (the 1 partly beneath the cock foot); it is over the gilding and clearly later (there is no prefix to the original number .86. on the
plate under the dial). The later case is hallmarked 1717 and the style of the dial and hands would appear to be contemporary with the case suggesting the watch was updated to the latest fashion.
Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), the greatest of English clockmakers was born the son of a blacksmith at Ickfield Green, a hamlet in the parish of Northill, Bedfordshire. It seems that he was trained, with his younger brother James, in the art of blacksmithing. ‘When you next set your watch’, wrote the poet Matthew Prior (1664-1721), ‘remember that Tompion was a farrier and began his great knowledge in the Equation of Time by regulating the wheels of a common Jack, to roast meat’.
Very little is known of Tompion’s early life, but he was likely involved at some point in the repair of the local church clock, as this was usually a blacksmith’s work. Perhaps he developed his passion for horology from this. There is no record of Thomas Tompion serving as an apprentice in a clockmaker’s workshop, but on September 4th, 1671, he was admitted to the Clockmakers’ Company and became Master in 1704.
In 1674 Tompion was introduced to Robert Hooke, the most important English experimental physicist of the 17th century. The following year, 1675, Hooke employed Tompion to make a watch with a special double-spring on the balance. On 7th
April, Hooke, accompanied by Tompion and Sir Jonas Moore, went to Whitehall Palace and showed the watch to King Charles II. The King was so impressed that he ordered a watch from Tompion for his own use.
Tompion employed several apprentices, most notably, Edward Banger, who married Tompion’s niece in 1694 and became free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1695. He formed a partnership with Tompion in 1701 but some years later a serious quarrel appears to have taken place and, after about 1708, they ceased to collaborate. The cause of the quarrel is not known but could possibly have been the result of rivalry between Banger and George Graham. The latter had worked as a journeyman in Tompion’s workshop since 1696 and had married another of his nieces. He was taken into partnership by Tompion in 1710 and succeeded the business on Tompion’s death in November 1713. Tompion was buried in Westminster Abbey, indicating the high esteem in which he was held, during his lifetime.