Samuel Watson, London

Rare George I burr walnut quarter repeating table timepiece by this fascinating maker. Circa 1710

Case

The burr walnut veneered case with inverted bell top case surmounted by a brass handle. The intricately moulded cornice above the shouldered break arch door inset with pierced wood sound frets. Pierced wood sound frets to the sides above tall arched glazed side windows, large opening back door inset with pierced wood sound frets. The moulded plinth with block feet.

Dial

The 7 inch brass dial with shouldered arch set with a silvered subsidiary date ring marked 1-9 consecutively, then 11-31 with odd numbers only, engraved to the centre, flanked by the signature and foliate engraving. Silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring with lozenge half-quarter marks and arrowhead half hour markers, the finely matted centre with engraved, chamfered, mock pendulum aperture. Framed by four winged cherub head spandrels

Movement

The large single gut fusee movement united by six knopped pillars, knife edge verge escapement, the pull repeat sounding the hours on a bell and the quarters on a run of six bells and hammers. The backplate signed in a leafy cartouche Sam: Wattson London, with symmetrical interlaced foliate scrolls.

Height 18 1/2 inches (47cms)

Samuel Watson is believed to have been born in Coventry and was sheriff of Coventry in 1686. He called himself Mathematician in Ordinary to King Charles II, although there is no evidence that this post existed but we know he made a clock for the King in 1683. In 1690 or 1691 he moved to Long Acre in London. He gained his freedom of the Clockmakers Company in 1692. He is particularly known for producing highly complex astronomical clocks, two for Charles II and another two for Sir Isaac Newton, he also produced a clock for measuring longitude at sea and is credited with being the inventor of the five minute repeating watch. The last known mention of him is around 1712.

The Clockmakers Company Collection at the Science Museum London has an astronomical table clock believed to have been the property of Sir Isaac Newton, with an ebonised case with a statue of mercury on top. The11 inch dial shows both astronomical and astrological information.

The Royal Collection at Windsor Castle has a five dial astronomical clock for an observer in London facing South by Samuel Watson. The clock was originally fitted as a longcase but was probably dismantled by Queen Mary and mounted in panelling. The case most probably is the case with a movement by Samuel Watson now in the Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry.