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A brass mounted ebony table clock, the movement by Henry Jones, London, circa 1685-90 and later The six latched and finned pillar bell striking movement with verge escapement regulated by short bob pendulum and incomplete pull quarter-repeat mechanism, the single line-bordered symmetrical foliate scroll and tulip bud engraved backplate signed Henry Jones, in the Temple to a leafy scroll bordered cartouche to centre, now with a 6.5 inch square brass dial with matted centre within applied silvered Roman numeral chapter ring with squat stylised fleur-de-lys half hour markers and Arabic five minutes within the narrow outer minute track, with pierced steel hands and winged cherub mask cast brass spandrels to angles, now in an ebony veneered case with hinged tied floral bud handle and foliate cast and pierced oval mount to the caddy surmount over ogee cornice top moulding and glazed front door applied with gilt foliate scroll escutcheons to jambs, the sides with conforming rectangular windows beneath lozenge-shaped sound frets, the rear with further rectangular glazed door set within the frame of the case, the base with shallow ogee moulded skirt over squab feet, 30.5cm (12ins) high excluding handle; with a fine 17th century scroll pierced and engraved winding key. Henry Jones is an important maker who is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 as born to William Jones at Boulder, Hampshire in 1634. He was apprenticed to Edward East in August 1654 gaining his Freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in July 1663. Jones is thought to have initially worked as journeyman to Edward East before setting up on his own in the Inner Temple, London by 1772. In 1775 he is recorded as 'in Inner Temple Lane' prior to being appointed as an Assistant of the Clockmakers' Company the following year. Henry Jones was subsequently made a Warden in 1687 and finally served as Master of the Company in 1691. Amongst his many apprentices were Francis Robinson (freed 1707) and two of his sons, Henry (freed April 1678) and William (not freed). In 1692 Jones gave the Clockmakers' Company £100 'for the use of the poor'; he died in 1694 leaving his workshop in the hands of his widow, Hannah, who is known to have supplied clocks signed in her name. The engraving to the backplate of the current lot can be directly compared to a silent-pull quarter repeating timepiece by Henry Jones sold in these rooms on Tuesday 17th March 2015 (lot 88) where it is noted that the design and execution of the engraved decoration could be very closely compared to that of the only known table clock by Peter Knibb which is illustrated in Lee, Ronald A. The Knibb Family, Clockmakers (page 129, plate 139). Lee also illustrates (on the preceding page, plate 138) another closely related backplate for a clock by John Knibb, Oxford and notes that both have internal rack striking, which would suggest that each date from the mid 1680's.

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