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A fine William III brass mounted ebony table clock with pull-quarter repeat, Brounker Watts, London, circa 1690-95 The six finned pillar twin fusee inside rack bell striking movement with verge escapement regulated by short bob pendulum and pull-quarter repeat on a single smaller bell, the backplate engraved with tulips and symmetrical scrolling foliage around a herringbone bordered lozenge-shaped reserve signed Brounker Watts, Londini Fecit, the 6.5 inch square gilt brass dial with high position calendar aperture and ringed winding holes to the finely matted centre within applied silvered Roman numeral chapter ring with trident half hour markers and Arabic five minutes within the narrow outer track, with sculpted blued steel hands and angles applied with gilt winged cherub head spandrels with engraved repeat signature Broun: Watts London to lower margin opposing N/S strike/silent selection lever to upper margin, the ebony veneered case of Knibb ‘phase III’ type with scroll outline foliate-bud tied hinged gilt brass carrying handle to the domed caddy surmount applied with cast foliate scroll pierced mounts to front and sides flanked by later pineapple finials, over ogee moulded cornice and foliate scroll pierced lozenge sound fret to the upper rail of the front door, the uprights with unusual twin mask and winged scroll cast gilt escutcheon mounts, the sides with lozenge sound frets over rectangular windows, the rear with rectangular glazed door set within the frame of the case, on ogee moulded shallow skirt base, 32cm (12.5ins) high excluding handle. Brounker Watts is recorded in Loomes, Brian Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700 as born in around 1670, he was apprenticed to Joseph Knibb from 1684/5 until 1691 and gained his freedom of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1693/4. In around 1695 he married Ursula Walford and in 1696 he is recorded as working from Fleet Street, London. His name is on the company’s Oath of Allegiance which was signed the following year. In 1698 Watts was living in the parish of St. Dunstan in the West and is recorded as avoiding stewardship of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1711 due to being ‘out of town’. Brounker Watts died in 1717 and was buried in his home parish of St. Dunstans in the West. When the current lot compared with examples by Joseph Knibb strong similarities become apparent. In particular the layout and detailing within the movement which, other than the use of standard finned pillars secured by pins and the signature, one could be quite forgiven for mistaking it for an example by Knibb himself. The attention to detail within the mechanism, such as decoratively sculpted scroll feet to the hammer springs/stops, shaped stopwork blocks and deeply domed collets, is particularly noteworthy and demonstrates Watts’s desire to maintain the quality of finish demanded by his master. The dial layout reflects Knibb’s work also with high position calendar aperture although the ringing to the winding holes is a departure by Watts away from Knibb’s preference for plain winding holes. The case is essentially a ‘textbook’ example of Knibb phase III design and can be directly compared to that of a timepiece illustrated in Lee Ronald A. The Knibb Family * Clockmakers on page 87 (plate 84). Notwithstanding this there are a couple of very slight differences; the first is the handle whose distinctive scroll design was actually favoured by Daniel Quare, the second are the door escutcheon mounts which at first glance appear to be of Knibb type however they differ in detail by incorporation twin masks (rather than a single) in each as well as feathered wings within the upper and lower extensions (not present in the typical Knibb castings).The current lot generally presents as a fine honest original example which is fresh to the market having been in the same family for as long as anyone can remember. This coupled with strong connections to one of the most important workshops of the ‘Golden Age’ of English clockmaking renders it worthy of inclusion in the finest of collections.

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