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Watch: PW.52 & A-1923

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Case maker: Cooper, William (Possibly)
Case maker: Ginn, William (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Verge watch in gold pair case, with fake signature.

MOVEMENT: Full plate movement engraved 'Tho Tompion LONDON', with small rose over counter-potance rivet. Balance cock with table pierced and engraved with a bowl of fruit being pecked by a bird from each side, a cherub's face, and bunches of flowers below. Foot engraved and pierced with irregular edge. Steel balance. Silver regulation dial in bridge fixed by two screws, dial engraved with radial Arabic figures 1 to 6. Fusee stop iron post pierced. Case bolt spring with flat decorated foot, nib through dial. Rectangular potance engraved on one side riveted to plate. Counter-potance, with turned portion, riveted to plate. Pillar plate with four tulip pillars, joint not gilt (replacement). Fusee and gut, tangent set-up under barrel, barrel with one lip. Third wheel with collect, contrate wheel wide, tooth spaces with file marks, arbour necked to clear escape arbour. Verge escapement. Shake hour hand, second wheel just off centre. Train planted anti-clockwise.

BRASS EDGE: Thin, three feet, engraved around dial.

DIAL: Gold, radial Roman chapters, diamond shaped half hour marks, ladder 1/4 hour ring. Centre scene with bowl of fruit being pecked by a bird each side, foliage and cherub above 6 o'clock. Similar to balance cock.

HAND: Blued steel.

INNER CASE: Silver gilt, plain. Inside stamped with maker's mark, incised 'WG'. Split bezel. Pendant cylindrical with spherical top, ring bow.

OUTER CASE (A): Covered in dark shagreen, with a line of pins at edge (some missing), same shagreen and pins on bezel (some missing).

Notes

History note: Unknown before S.G. Perceval (1838-1922), Severn House, Henbury, Gloucestershire.

Legal notes

S.G. Perceval Bequest, 1922

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 4.4 cm
Height: 5.2 cm

Place(s) associated

  • London ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1922) by Perceval, Spencer George

Dating

17th Century, Late
William III and Mary II
Production date: circa AD 1690

Note

The inner case of the watch may have been made by either William Cooper of Lamb Court, Clerkenwell Green, or William Ginn who was free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1700. The movement was not by Thomas Tompion although his name is engraved on it.

School or Style

Baroque

Components of the work

Hand composed of steel ( blued)
Movement composed of iron silver steel brass (alloy)
Inner Case composed of silver-gilt Diameter 44.5 mm Height 52.75 mm Thickness 29 mm
Outer Case composed of shagreen Diameter 51 mm Height 56 mm Thickness 31 mm
Dial composed of gold
Movement (back Plate) Diameter 35.25 mm
Movement (pillar Plate) Diameter 36.5 mm
Movement (brass Edge) Diameter 37.75 mm
Movement (pillar) Height 9 mm
Movement, Dial

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: Tho.Tompion LONDON
  • Location: On movement
  • Method of creation: Engraved
  • Type: Inscription

Inscription present: right half of 'G' o 'C' not present

  • Text: WC or WG
  • Location: On inner case
  • Method of creation: Struck
  • Type: Maker's mark

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: PW.52 & A-1923
Primary reference Number: 200550
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 10 February 2015 Updated: Wednesday 28 March 2018 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Watch" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/200550 Accessed: 2024-12-23 01:24:29

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/200550 |title=Watch |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 01:24:29|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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