Edward Girard, London – 1715
£7,500.00
This early eighteenth-century walnut hooded wall clock signed E. Girard, London represents a refined and comparatively uncommon survival of the smaller domestic wall timepiece produced in the capital during the first decades of the 1700s.
The case is particularly appealing. The walnut hood, surmounted by an inverted bell-top pediment and finial, retains the architectural character associated with late 17th-century London work, yet scaled for wall mounting. The shaped wall bracket integrates neatly with the hood, something not always encountered with such clocks.
Gilt Indian mask spandrels frame the 8 inch square brass dial with a silvered chapter ring enclosing a finely matted centre. A square calendar aperture above VI provides the date, while a mock pendulum aperture offers visual balance below the centre — a decorative feature often retained even when pendulum visibility was not strictly required. The silvered alarm disc to the centre confirms this as a more complex domestic clock, appealing to practical urban use.
Mechanically, the 30-hour weight-driven movement with finned, knopped pillars is typical of London production in the period. The inclusion of an alarm and hour striking on a bell elevates it above the most basic provincial wall clocks. The pillar form and overall layout are consistent with early 18th-century metropolitan practice, where stylistic conservatism lingered from the William and Mary period into the reign of Queen Anne.
At 60cm to the top of the finial, the clock occupies a pleasing intermediate scale — larger than a simple posted wall clock, yet more compact than a small longcase — making it particularly suitable for hall or stairwell display.
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