William Morris, Eastbourne – 1830
£2,850.00
From the workshop of William Morris of Eastbourne, this pleasing provincial longcase was made around 1830 and carries an added layer of local interest: Morris was the grandfather of the Caffyns PLC founding family. The Caffyn brothers would go on to establish one of the South Coast’s best-known motor businesses later in the 19th century, giving this earlier clock a tangible link to Sussex commercial history.
The clock is of 30-hour duration, a traditional and economical construction well suited to the provincial market. As one would expect, the movement is driven by a single weight and employs a countwheel strike, sounding the hours on a bell. These 30-hour movements, often with posted frames and external countwheels, were robust, straightforward to maintain, and widely produced in Sussex and Kent during the late Georgian and early Victorian periods.
The 11-inch square painted dial is signed to the centre and decorated with charming spring flowers in the corner spandrels – a decorative flourish that softens the practical simplicity of the movement. The paintwork, in combination with the light oak case, gives the clock a fresh and distinctly regional character. Oak cases of this type were commonly made by local cabinetmakers, often resulting in subtle variations in moulding profiles and proportions that can help attribute a piece geographically.
The case itself survives in remarkably original condition, an increasingly rare feature for clocks of this type which were everyday domestic timekeepers. Altogether, this is an honest and well-made example of early 19th-century Sussex clockmaking -mechanically straightforward, visually attractive, and enriched by its connection to Eastbourne’s later commercial heritage.
Enquire about this clock
