J.H. CHAMBERLAIN (1831-1883)
GOTHIC REVIVAL LONGCASE CLOCK, CIRCA 1878
£6,300
Auction: 11 October 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
carved oak and walnut, inset with marquetry panels, and carved to the roundel with initials TR, the 14" silvered brass dial inscribed HURT & SON, BIRMINGHAM, with seconds dial and strike silent facility, the three-train movement with dead-beat escapement, quarter-chiming on a nest of eight bells and striking the hour on a subsidiary bell
Dimensions
61cm wide, 248.5cm high, 30cm deep
Footnote
Note: This magnificent clock was designed by the architect, John Henry Chamberlain, and the case was probably made in the workshop of Samuel Barfield, a skilled woodcarver who frequently worked for Chamberlain. A related set of wall shelves and an entire room by Chamberlain, currently on display in the British Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, were removed from The Grove, Harborne. The Grove, demolished in 1963, was one of a wide range of projects designed by Chamberlain and his partner William Martin (1828-1900) in and around Birmingham. Frequently designed in the Ruskinian Gothic style they pumping stations, libraries, schools, shops, churches and chapels as well as a number of private houses. His ideals chimed perfectly with Birmingham's ruling liberals at the time, who sought to transform industrial Birmingham into a cultural centre to rival the great European capitals. One of his finest achievements, the Municipal School of Art of 1885, still stands today in Margaret Street.
Chamberlain was one of the earliest practical exponents of the ideas of architectural theorist, John Ruskin and was increasingly influenced by the early Arts and Crafts movement in his later works. His belief in the value of individual craftsmanship and patterns inspired by nature are evident in the profusely carved and inlaid case of the current lot.