A highly unusual thirty-hour longcase clock movement and dial with decorative skeletonized plates, unsigned, circa 1700 The four finned pillar two-train countwheel bell striking movement with off-set anchor escapement incorporating bent-strip form pallets for regulation by a seconds pendulum, the rectangular front and back plates decoratively pierced with a vertical stem issuing six symmetrical stylized tulip flowers with the centre of each bud carrying pivots for the going train on the right and strike train on the left, the centre with external countwheel indistinctly engraved James.., the 11 inch square brass dial with delicate leafy spray engraved centre and single pierced steel hand within 8.25 inch diameter Roman numeral chapter ring with stylized leaf decorated cruciform half hour markers, the angles with winged cherub head and foliate scroll cast spandrels (no pendulum or weight). The current lot is highly unusual in having decoratively pierced skeletonized plates. Their symmetrical design required the maker to carefully consider the planting of the trains which has resulted in a neat mirroring in their layout. The offset positioning of the escape wheel is a product of this approach; the pallet arbor however is neatly centred passing through an aperture created within a flower head at the apex of the stem.The use of pierced plates is extremely rare with the most notable makers being the Snow family of Padside, Pately Bridge, Yorkshire. In particular William Snow Senior, (1736 - 1795) produced skeletonised movements whereby any large blank areas of the plates were removed, melted down and reused. He ran a prolific workshop making over one thousand clocks, particularly 30-hour longcase clocks, which were serial numbered. Snow employed many local people in the production of movement parts as piece work, supplementing their farming income during the winter months. William’s sons, William junior and Richard also became clockmakers.Stylistically, with its finned and knopped pillars coupled with the distinctive ‘tulip’ theme to its pierced plates, the present movement arguably pre-dates the work of William Snow senior. Indeed when considering these features it would be reasonable to suggest a date of around 1700. With this in mind it is perhaps worth noting that in Hooper, John and Darken, Jeff English 30 Hour Clocks, Origin & Development, 1600-1800 the authors state that the Snow family can be traced back to 1655 (page 141, footnote 23). From this it may be reasonable to speculate that the current lot could possibly be connected to an earlier generation of the Snow family whose work is yet to be identified.