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Anonymous (German, South)
Gilt-brass cased verge clock-watch with alarm

, c. 1580

case; gilt-brass; cast, chased and pierced dial; gilt-brass; engraved, silver; enamelled, blued-steel movement; gilt-brass; engraved, steel

case 61.6 mm diameter case 30.6 mm thickness movement 46.6 mm diameter movement 10.6 mm pillar height

Case: Gilt-brass rounded case with hinged lid and integral back, the back cast and chased with a vase and floral scrolls. The band is pierced with a series of floral scrolls. The lid is pierced in a geometric pattern with two circles of twelve apertures to reveal the hour numerals on the dial beneath. Small gilt-brass pendant; no finial intended. The bell is screwed to a square boss inside the back of the case. Dial: Gilt-brass dial-plate; silver dial with hours I-XII and 13-Z4 and a circle of alternate hatched and plain rectangles for the quarters all in dark blue enamel. Touch-pins at the hours and a hole for strike release at VII. In the middle, a gilt-brass alarm-setting disc numbered 1-12 and with an engraved foliate decoration in the centre. The blued-steel hand is a later replacement. Movement: Circular gilt-brass plates with rectangular pillars, with straight-line decoration, pinned to the front plate. Open mainspring with stackfreed, the spring and roller not original, the gilt-brass cam with engraved decoration retained by a large quatrefoil nut. Four wheel train of steel wheels; verge escapement, the crown wheel mounted in a composite gilt-brass clip with engraved decoration on the visible side. The dumb-bell balance is not original. Key-operated hog's bristle regulator, the gilt-brass drum numbered 1-8. Striking train driven by an open mainspring without stop-work; steel train; nag's head release, with over-lift; count-wheel control. Alarm train also driven by an open mainspring without stop-work; three wheel train of steel wheels; verge operated hammer; sliding block stop-mechanism. The movement is unsigned. Literature: Baillie, Watches, 1929, plate IX, pp. 57, 61, 94. D. Thompson, 'Watches in the Ashmolean Museum' Ashmolean Handbooks, 2007

Formerly in the Webster Collection

Thompson (2007) 3

Bequeathed by J. Francis Mallett, 1947.

WA1947.191.8