A FINE QUEEN ANNE EBONISED LONGCASE CLOCK

A FINE QUEEN ANNE EBONISED LONGCASE CLOCK

BY JOHN KNIBB, OXFORD, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

the brass eight day fully latched movement with five turned and finned pillars and inside countwheel, the anchor escapement striking on a bell, with a separate shaped cock for the pallet arbor and a cut-out on the backplate for the pallets, with a long crutch, the brass 11 3/4inch dial with a silvered chapter ring with Roman and Arabic numerals and fleur-de-lis half hour markers, the matted centre with subsidiary seconds dial and date aperture, with blued steel hands, signed 'John Knibb Oxon' with gilt brass crown and boys spandrels, the hood with a Knibb type button capped giltwood centre finial flanked by conforming brass finials to the domed caddy top above a blind fret friezes, with integral columns with gilt brass caps and plinths, the trunk with a concave moulding and a lenticle to the door, on a plinth base, with two brass cased weights, pendulum and case key

239cm high

Catalogue Note

John Knibb was born in 1650 and was apprenticed to his older brother, Joseph, in around 1664. When Joseph moved to London in 1670 to set up business (presumably in the workshop inherited from his uncle, Samuel) John, his younger brother, took-on the Oxford workshop gaining the Freedom of the city on payment of a fine in 1673. Throughout the latter three decades of the 17th century John and Joseph worked in parallel, however when the products from both workshops are examined, it is evident that they had a close working relationship. Joseph Knibb retired in 1697 selling-up most of his workshop before moving to Hanslop, Buckinghamshire where he made a few clocks prior to his death in 1711. John Knibb continued in business until his death in 1722. The movement of the current lot is fully latched and has the feature of separate cock for the pallet arbor (and cut-out for the pallets in the backplate) normally found on earlier clocks by Joseph with butterfly-nut pendulum regulation, however the casting for the pendulum hanging cock differs from those found on earlier clocks and the use of internal countwheel for striking the hours certainly dates it towards the end of the century. From these observations one could speculate that the movement of the current lot may well have been acquired by John from Joseph's stock when he retired in 1697 or even on his death in 1711 before finishing and fitting with a dial. The fine proportions of the case closely echoes London work of the period. Despite being provincially made (probably Oxford) the case does exhibit features such as the distinctive spherical finials with button-shaped caps (which are often seen on other longcase clocks by the Knibb family) which set it aside from other provincial examples of the period.