Description
A very fine regulator longcase clock of great proportion, standing at just under 6ft, which has been made with superb quality and high attention to detail.
The dial of standard regulator layout being silvered, engraved, 12” round with both Roman and Arabic numerals and signed “Thomas Porthouse, Maker to the Admiralty. 10 Northampton Square, London“. The weight driven, 5 pillar movement features oversized plates, jewelled dead-beat escapement, a mercury pendulum and maintaining power. The mahogany case features fine veneers, a long glazed trunk door with mahogany base.
Altogether a very high quality clock.
Thomas Porthouse: C.1794-1860 He gained a considerable reputation as a watch and chronometer maker in London. His origins are unknown, but it is possible he was related to the 18th century family of clockmakers by that name from Penrith in Cumberland (now Cumbria) in the North of England.
The known facts about Thomas Porthouse suggest that sometime around the year 1815 he started his own business on High Street, Poplar, in London’s East End, near the city’s main docklands. The first city directory to include information about Porthouse as a tradesman, published in 1822 by the Manchester firm Pigot and Co, lists his premises at 210 High Street. One year after the Royal Observatory announced its Premium Trials, Porthouse entered chronometer No.233 . No doubt recognizing the prestige to be gained by selling chronometers to the Royal Navy, Porthouse submitted a number of further chronometers for the Greenwich trials in the following years.
Comparative Literature:
Brian Loomes – The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain
Serviced and guaranteed for 3 years.
Height: 71 ½” (6ft) or 182cm
CIRCA. 1850
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