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Watch: M.108 & A-1961

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Watchmaker: Finch, Thomas
Case maker: Richards, William (watchmaker) (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Verge coach watch in pair case, silver inner and shagreen outer.

MOVEMENT: Full plate movement engraved 'Tho: Finch London 300'. Balance cock, table pierced and engraved with two support feet, ears and mask at neck, foot pierced and engraved, narrow edge. Steel balance. Slide plate with engraved and pierced snake index to silver regulation dial with radial Arabic figures 5 to 40. Top plate engraved '300' covered by slide plate, second '300' engraved near edge of plate. Pierced fusee iron post. Blued steel case bolt, nib through dial, flat decorative foot, fixing screw with long turned head. Potance with narrow foot, moulded and shaped. Counter-potance rectangular with turned stem. Pillar plate with four Egyptian pillars with concave tops. Fusee and chain, barrel with one lip, tangent set-up under barrel. Verge escapement. Trains planted anti-clockwise.

BRASS EDGE: Gilt. Engraved border of acanthus leaves. Dial recess cuts the leaves in half.

DIAL: Silver, four feet. Radial Arabic 5 minute figures in polished cushions, ladder minute ring with meeting arrow cross at 5 mins. Radial Roman chapters, ladder half-hour ring with arrow half-hour marks, flower in centre. Recesses all matt.

HANDS: Blued steel, pierced hour and poker minute.

INNER CASE: Silver, plain body with maker's mark inside, incuse 'WR' also scratched '401-y.q.' Plain bezel, split. Plain pendant with round stirrup pendant

OUTER CASE (A): Silver, brass and black shagreen. Silver frame with square ended hinge. Brass body covered in black shagreen with outer ring of silver pins, alternative pins with large decorated heads. Body opening flat, scratched '5677 Vg/We/-'. Bezel with brass ring covered with black shagreen having rings of pins, alternate pins with large decorated heads, around edge, silver opening. Label inside body, with 'Percy Webster 37 Great Portland Street WI' with 'Thos: Finch, Brother C.C. 1676 / supposed to be cousin of / Thos: Tompion. / He witnessed his will / (fine specimen of Queen Ann / or earlier)' in pencil.

Legal notes

Louis Colville Grey Clarke Bequest

Place(s) associated

  • London ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1961) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

17th Century#
Production date: AD 1690

Components of the work

Movement composed of iron steel
Case composed of shagreen brass (alloy)
Cases composed of silver
Movement, Dial composed of silver
Inner Case Diameter 103 mm Height 121 mm Thickness 56.5 mm
Outer Case Diameter 115.5 mm Height 128.25 mm Thickness 60 mm
Movement (top Plate) Diameter 87 mm
Movement (pillar Plate) Diameter 88.5 mm
Movement (brass Edge) Diameter 92.5 mm
Movement (pillar) Height 20.75 mm
Dial
Movement, Hands

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 'Tho: Finch London 300'
  • Location: Movement
  • Method of creation: Engraved
  • Type: Maker's name
  • Text: incuse 'WR'
  • Location: Inner case
  • Type: Maker's mark
  • Text: '5677 Vg/We/-'
  • Location: Outer case
  • Method of creation: Scratched
  • Type: Mark
  • Text: 'Percy Webster 37 Great Portland Street WI'
  • Location: Inside outer case
  • Type: Label
  • Text: 'Thos: Finch, Brother C.C. 1676 / supposed to be cousin of / Thos: Tompion. / He witnessed his will / (fine specimen of Queen Ann / or earlier)'
  • Location: On above label
  • Method of creation: In pencil
  • Type: Note

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.108 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 201796
Back plate view: K4546
Side plate view: K4547
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 9 June 2015 Updated: Wednesday 28 March 2018 Last processed: Thursday 7 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://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/201796 Accessed: 2024-11-22 00:53:26

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/201796 |title=Watch |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 00:53:26|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-201796

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