OLD ENGLISH WATCHES. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
VI. Watch with black piqué case. Maker, Peter Garon (about 1705).
VII. Early Georgian Watch with dark enamel dial. Maker, Duhamel. 1740.
VIII. Watch with repoussé work on case signed V. Haut. Maker, Haydon. 1731.
IX. Watch. Maker, Daniels of Leighton. About 1760.
X. Late Georgian Watch with dial and decorations in Battersea enamel and shagreen case.
(By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq.)
No. 1 shows the character of an Elizabethan watch. The fine case shows the quality of the chased and repoussé open-work design.
No. 2 is a James I oval watch, and the maker is Yate, of London. This watch is dated 1620, in the reign of James I, the year when the Mayflower sailed to America and New England was founded by those wise Puritans who foresaw the oncoming civil war of the next reign. The Earl of Ashburnham exhibited at the Stuart Exhibition in 1889 a gold watch which formerly belonged to Charles I, inscribed "Henricus Jones, Londini." Another maker of watches of this period is Edward East. The silver alarum clock given by Charles I on his way to execution to Thomas Herbert was made by Edward East. "Through the garden the King passed into the park, where making a stand, he asked Mr. Herbert the hour of the day: and taking the clock into his hand, gave it him, and bade him keep it in memory of him." This silver alarum watch is still treasured in the Mitford family.
No. 3 is a Cromwellian silver watch, plum-shaped. As coats of arms were not so sinful as painted cherubs and stained-glass windows, this bauble with elaborately engraved crest survived the wreckers' despoiling hand. Cromwell himself boasted of a crest, and in some respects it resembled that used by royalty.
No. 4 is a Restoration watch made by Snow, of Lavington, near Bath. It exhibits fine ornamentation and is a beautiful specimen of Late Stuart style when sumptuousness, under the guiding influence of the French Louis Quatorze grandeur, made itself felt in this country.
No. 5 is worthy of respect and admiration as being the work of that great maker, Thomas Tompion. It is of the William and Mary period. The craftsman had arrived at the period of a scientific endeavour to create a perfect timekeeper. The case indicates utility; ornament is in due subjection. The Arabic figures showing the seconds on the dial should be observed.
No. 6, of which the back is shown, is a watch by Peter Garon. It is in black piqué case, finely decorated in a subdued and reticent manner. Peter Garon flourished between 1694 and 1706. But in that year, when Marlborough's campaigns were at their full height, poor Garon felt the stress of commercial depression and became bankrupt.
No. 7, showing the front and open case, is a fine watch by Duhamel, about 1740, bringing us to the days of George I and Walpole.