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Lot Essay
A less elaborate version of this clock, No. 382 (narrower and without the ormolu plinth panels) was sold to the Duke of Gloucester in 1802. It was sold Sotheby's London, 25 April 2007, lot 29 (£32,400).
Unusually among clockmakers the Vulliamys numbered most of the clocks they made, openly doing so from 1788 until 1854, when the firm closed (Roger Smith, 'Vulliamy Clock Numbering: A Dated Series', Antiquarian Horology, No. 6, Vol. 19, 1991, pp. 620-625). Their workbooks give invaluable information regarding the date of manufacture and ownership of many clocks made by the business. The serial numbers recorded in the two books are respectively 296-469 and 746-1067. The first book covers the years 1797-1806, although the construction and delivery dates of some of the clocks continue to 1809, with some undelivered even then.
The workbook page for clock 326 reveals that it was delivered to Dan Walker on July 11 1806. The entry shows the workmen and the cost of the work, which totalled £20-6s-0d:
Day the Marble................5-4
Bullock the Movt................5-5
Culver engraving the Hands.......-5
Brown engraving the...plates....1-4
Long...the Dial..................-10
Maas the Ring....................-2-6
Monke chasing the brass.........1-11-6
Wedgwood the Medallion............-9-
Burrow the brass work...........1-10-
Metal & Beads.....................-5-
Crockett the gilding (about)....2-2-
Brownby the .... (about).........-12-
Osburn the glass shade...........-16-
Velvet............................-2-
Unusually among clockmakers the Vulliamys numbered most of the clocks they made, openly doing so from 1788 until 1854, when the firm closed (Roger Smith, 'Vulliamy Clock Numbering: A Dated Series', Antiquarian Horology, No. 6, Vol. 19, 1991, pp. 620-625). Their workbooks give invaluable information regarding the date of manufacture and ownership of many clocks made by the business. The serial numbers recorded in the two books are respectively 296-469 and 746-1067. The first book covers the years 1797-1806, although the construction and delivery dates of some of the clocks continue to 1809, with some undelivered even then.
The workbook page for clock 326 reveals that it was delivered to Dan Walker on July 11 1806. The entry shows the workmen and the cost of the work, which totalled £20-6s-0d:
Day the Marble................5-4
Bullock the Movt................5-5
Culver engraving the Hands.......-5
Brown engraving the...plates....1-4
Long...the Dial..................-10
Maas the Ring....................-2-6
Monke chasing the brass.........1-11-6
Wedgwood the Medallion............-9-
Burrow the brass work...........1-10-
Metal & Beads.....................-5-
Crockett the gilding (about)....2-2-
Brownby the .... (about).........-12-
Osburn the glass shade...........-16-
Velvet............................-2-