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An extraordinarily rare and…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
22-Oct-2024
Lot No.
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Description:
An extraordinarily rare and important silver and gilt metal astronomical verge pocket watch by Robert Grinkin English circa 1635-40 5.5 cm long, 3.7 cm wide, 2.2 cm high. An extraordinarily rare and important silver and gilt metal astronomical verge pocket watch by Robert Grinkin. English circa 1635-40. with green shagreen case. Robert Grinkin was master of the Blacksmiths Company in 1609 and Master of the Clockmakers Company in 1648 (the Clockmakers Company was formed in 1631). An early London Watchmaker, with examples of his work held in many museums and private collections. The verge movement has a silver balance cock but is otherwise fairly typical of the period with a tangent screw set up to adjust the rate of going. It has a long fusee with gut drive, and was made before the balance spring. This watch shows astronomical as well as astrological indicators, the former now being considered more desirable by collectors, but astrology was of great significance when the watch was made. The inner silver ring of the upper dial represents the approximate dates on which the various signs of the Zodiac commence according to the old style calendar. The calendar changed in 1752. The signs of the Zodiac are shown on the ring next to the dates. The circle of figures above the signs are approximate sunset times for the months shown in the circle above. The apertures on the right give the age of the moon, the moon phase and the time of the moonrise. The outermost circle gives the date. The blued steel indicator is pointing to the fifth. The aperture on the left gives the day of the week and the sign of the day. The Allegorical figures are the planetary divinities that governed the day of the week according to the Ancients. They are represented as follows: Sunday Apollo. Monday Diana (Artemis). Tuesday Mars. Wednesday Mercury. Thursday Jupiter. Friday Venus. Saturday Saturn. Illustrated on the front cover of the 'A H S Journal' No. 12 Vol 3, September 1962 and in 'Antique Watches' page 62. Provenance: Purchased from Camerer Cuss & Co in 1974 for 6,500 Pounds ($10,400). .For a relatable circular astronomical watch by Henricus Harper, London, circa 1670 see Bonhams New York 17 December 2009 Lot 12 which sold for US$35,500. In their footnote they refer to this watch: This watch belongs to a small group of pre balance spring English watches, all of which incorporate a similar year calendar display with concentric date and month indications, flanked by day of the week and lunar apertures. Similar calendar work can be found on slightly earlier French watches made during the first quarter of the 17th century. Although the watches seem to differ only in detail, no single watchmaker can be associated with them. Virtually all are signed by different makers. The earliest appears to be an oval silver watch by Robert Grinkin, Jr. (free 1632) which indicates the times of sunset rather than sunrise (Camerer Cuss Collection). Another, by Nathaniel Barrow (free 1660) has a Gregorian calendar and a movement that appears to have been modernized late in the 17th century.(Collection of the Clockmakers Company). The design of the calendar as an attachment and its similarity to others by diverse makers suggests that the calendar plate was the work of a specialist and supplied to watchmakers as needed. Instrument making and clock making were allied trades and were closely associated through shared apprentices. See: Brown, Joyce (1979) 'Guild organization and the instrument-making trade, 1550-1830: the Grocers' and Clockmakers' Companies', Annals of Science, 36:1 pp 1-34.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Horology (Clocks & watches): Watches - Pocket & Fob