Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2015 / January 2016 | Page 58

ANTIQUES

Island Auction Rooms

talks antiques

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Riches:
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Longcase clocks

T

he longcase clock, also known as the grandfather
clock after the popular Victorian song, was
the product of two pan-European horological
breakthroughs of the late 1650s - the application of the
pendulum clock and the invention of the so-called anchor
escapement.
First used in clockmaking by the Dutchman Christiaan
Huygens in 1656, the pendulum made for near frictionless
time-keeping, while it was the anchor mechanism (probably
invented around the same time by British scientist Robert
Hooke) that reduced the swing and improved accuracy.
The need to protect the movement within a high case to
house the heavy drive weights, and soon afterwards a long
pendulum that beat once every second, led to a style of
clock that remained popular for more than two centuries.

Auction report

T

he clock market is multi-faceted and the price range
is huge. The top end is typically occupied by so-called
Golden Age clocks by celebrated makers from the late
17th and the first half of the 18th century. These venerable
timepieces, housed in elegant cases of ebony, walnut, mulberry,
marquetry or japanned lacquer, have a long collecting history
and appeal beyond the relatively small field of horology.
Pricing depends heavily on quality, condition, movement
and maker. Good clocks by eminent names such as Ahasuerus
Fromanteel, Thomas Tompion, George Graham, the Knibb
family, Joseph Windmills and John Ellicott will bring five- and
six-figure sums on the occasions they come to the market. But,
across a typical year, only a small handful is likely to be available.
In recent years the low end standard 8-day or 30 hour longcase
clocks have come right back in value, and are in my opinion
one of the great buys from auction at the moment. Indeed the
sound of the tick tock of a clock is a soothing and relaxing thing
and one I highly recommend!

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O

ctober and November proved an amazing couple
of months for Island Auction Rooms. The outdoor
sale was so busy the start of the sale was delayed, the car
park over flowing.
We sold everything, from a classic Cowley car for over
£8,000 to a van with CCTV for over £10,000. The sale
total was a record and showed the public’s passion for
off site auctions is more than ever.
Then came the November antique sale, a sale with
some fantastic items in, with world wide interest for
medals, paintings and jewellery.
A rare Victorian Military General Service Medal
1793-1814 was contested by 8 phone lines and over
200 live bidders online. The price steeply rose past the
£1000 mark up to £5,000, this being the normal level
for such a medal. However two private bidders then
went to town and the bidding hit £10,000, it eventually
finished at over £17,000 in total for the successful buyer.
A single stone diamond ring was another star of the
sale with the trade fighting against private buyers taking
it to a sparkling £4,600 – a nice Christmas present.