Jonas Barber

Ratclif Cross, London

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c. 1690

A William and Mary walnut longcase with 11" square brass dial and 8-day plated movement with 5 knopped and finned pillars, fully latched. Finely matted dial with fine engraving to dial centre, dial border and date ring aperture. Silvered chapter ring, seconds ring and date ring. Very fine and decorative hour and minute hands. Details on the hour hand echo the fine details in the centre engraving.

High quality arbors and very fine pinions, typical of London clocks of this period. Original scape wheel and early anchor enhance this movement. The movement has been fully serviced and is one of the best early untouched movements of this period that we've seen to date.

The walnut case having good long 42 1/2" door. Fine stringing to the trunk and door, together with good patination make this case a stunning piece of furniture in its own right.

The hood, which was originally rising but later converted to forward sliding, has no mask and has never been ‘cut’ to make a front opening door – a rare feature to be found today. The gallery fret, which also appears to be original, has a few blemishes but once again a superb example. The sides are glazed and barley twist columns fitted.

This clock has all of the features you would expect on a high quality London clock.

A near identical clock by Jonas Barber is illustrated on page 51 of 'Clock Types' by E J Tyler [Longman 1982].

The Barber family were a renowned clockmaking family in the Yorkshire area. Jonas Barber, brother of John Barber of Skipton, was born in 1652 in Yorkshire. He later moved to London to practice his trade as a clockmaker at Ratclif Cross. He died in 1698.

Height: 78" (198cm)

Price: POA