A George III oak longcase clock, 33cm circular brass dial in...

Hammer

£260

A George III oak longcase clock, 33cm circular brass dial inscribed James Wright, Derby, Roman and subsidiary Arabic numerals, date aperture, 30 hour movement striking on a bell, the case with break-arch pediment and parcel-gilt Doric columns, serpentine lancet-arched rectangular door to waist, flanked by quarter-columns, bracket feet, 211cm high, c.1780 James Wright (1741-1806) was a figure of some significance in the story of John Whitehurst FRS. A nephew of Mrs. Whitehurst (née Gretton) he was apprenticed to Whitehurst 1755-1762, thereafter working with him until 1775, when Whitehurst was spending increasingly more time in London, whereupon he appears to have been given charge of the works, advertising himself as 'Jas. Wright/successor to Mr. John Whitehurst' and signing clocks in his own name, as here, the clocks themselves being entirely of Whitehurst type and quality. He appears to have lost the firm money through rash management and was replaced in 1777 by Whitehurst's nephew, after which he continued to sign clocks until the 1790s. His debts were cleared in Whitehurst's will (1788). This clock dates from c. 1775-1777 and is a Whitehurst 30hr in all but name [see Craven M., John Whitehurst, Innovator, Scientist, Geologist and Clockmaker (Fonthill, Stroud (2015) 164-168, 172-174]