Quiet Street Antiques of Bath has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
The 8-day fusee ‘A’ frame movement incorporates an anchor escapement, whilst the main hands are of gilded brass, with the additional feature of a date hand, which is of blued steel.
The dial itself is perfect and is signed by the maker: William & JN'o Evill of BATH. William Evill (1762-1787) was a highly regarded clockmaker resident in Bath, with a number of noted Longcase, Bracket and Wall clocks to his name. Not to be confused with his son, also named William, but who worked in the City from 1819-1826.
After many years of ‘complaints’ from owners of clocks, who found difficulty reading clock faces in the dark (before electricity) the clockmaking industry tried to overcome this by producing enamel dials. This certainly made the clocks easier to read but the process, particularly the larger dials (such as this example), was fraught with problems. The main issue was the cracking of the enamel during the firing process and many attempts had to be made before a perfect example was produced. Due to this problem, they were only produced for a very few years, until about 1785-88 when painted dials came into fashion – Which were much easier to manufacture.
A wonderful and exceedingly rare WALL CLOCK.
Date: c.1785
Quiet Street Antiques of Bath has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
Fine antiques at sensible prices
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Rare Mahogany Enamel Dialled Wall Clock by William Evill of Bath (C.1785)
