J Thwaites, London. c.1809 3433

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J Thwaites, London. c.1809

A classic  Georgian wall timepiece of particularly high quality by this eminent maker, with a 12” diameter convex wooden dial, five pillar  fusee movement numbered 4405, with steel rod pendulum, faced by typical Thwaites ‘pierced arrow’ matching brass hands, in a mahogany case with raised beaded decoration to the trunk, elegant ‘ears’, and a concave moulded brass bezel with integral lock.

Stock No. 3433

John Thwaites was in partnership with his father Aynsworth Thwaites, and took over the business on his father’s death in 1780. He became one of the first wholesale clockmakers, making movements and complete clocks for other makers and retailers. He numbered all his movements, and the records still exist, so accurate dating of clocks with his movements is possible. This number 4405 dates the movement to 1809. John Thwaites was master of the Clockmakers Company three times - 1815,1819, and 1820. He later entered into partnership with George Jeremiah Reed, becoming Thwaites and Reed, a company that continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century.

There is a barely legible label in the clock that indicates that the case was made by Thomas Lowther, the leading clock case maker of the day, which explains the exceptional quality of the case.