A VICTORIAN GILT AND SILVERED BRASS DIAL FOR A QUARTER-CHIMI...

Estimate

£150 - £250

A VICTORIAN GILT AND SILVERED BRASS DIAL FOR A QUARTER-CHIMING BRACKET CLOCKDENT, LONDON, CIRCA 1870The recessed 7.5 inch circular silvered Roman numeral centre engraved DENT, 61 Strand &, 34 Royal Exchange, London over 1739 to centre, set within foliate scroll engraved shallow-arch gilt brass mask incorporating conforming recessed silvered subsidiary STRIKE/SILENT selection dial over FAST/SLOW regulation lever slot to upper margin; together with a brass 4.375 inch shaped-arch single-sheet Roman numeral dial engraved J.W. BENSON, 25 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON to centre, and a further brass dial applied with 4.5 inch Roman numeral chapter disc with star-pierced centre, (3).The Dent dial 28cm (11ins) high, 20.3cm (8ins) wide overall.Edward John Dent was a talented horologist who at the age of 17 transferred his apprenticeship from the trade of tallow chandler to watchmaking under the charge of Edward Gaudin in 1807. By 1817 he had become well known as a watch and clockmaker receiving commissions from the Admiralty for a 'Standard Astronomical Clock' and pocket chronometers for the Colonial Office Africa Expedition. In 1830 Dent went into partnership with the renowned watch and chronometer maker John Roger Arnold which continued until 1840 when he left and set up business alone as E.J. Dent at 82 Strand, London, primarily making marine chronometers, watches and precision clocks. In 1843 the firm expanded taking on a second premises at 33 Cocksur Street, with the Strand premises moving down the road to number 61 by 1851. In 1852 Edward Dent successfully tendered to make the 'great clock' to be housed in Stephen's tower at the New Palace of Westminster. The clock was completed by 1859, apparently at a financial loss to the firm, however it ensured that Dent became a household name synonymous with fine clockmaking. Unfortunately Edward John Dent did not live to see the installation of the 'great clock' as he died in 1853. He was succeeded by his stepson Frederick Rippon Dent, who, in partnership with his brother Richard, continued to expand the business. By 1862 the firm had added 34 Cockspur Street and 34 & 35 Royal Exchange to their list of addresses and, although having seen natural passage of ownership over the intervening years, the business still continues to trade today as Dent & Co. Dent started a new sequence of numbering for their clocks, watches and chronometers in 1876, starting at number 38,000.