Edward Banger, born to a Somerset joiner and his wife around 1668, was apprenticed to his future wife’s uncle, the clockmaker Thomas Tompion, in 1687. His name appears alongside Tompion’s on clocks and watches made by the pair up until about 1708, when Banger left his master’s service under a cloud.
Banger is thought not to have continued making timepieces until late 1715, dying in 1720. The result is that clocks displaying his name alone are very rare indeed, so rare indeed that Brian Loomes’ The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain lists Banger’s signature as appearing “apparently only clocks and watches signed jointly by Tompion himself”.
However, this scarcely restored longcase, with an eight-day striking movement contained in an ebonised pearwood case, proves otherwise. It is one of three such clocks (and three watches), signed solely by Banger, that have come to light over the past few years, according to Sworders, who informed the Antiques Trade Gazette that the other two had since disappeared. It is possible that this example, which is listed as being in good condition, once had a pagoda hood and the plinth has been cut down somewhat, but otherwise the auctioneers believe it has been little altered.
With a £17,000-20,000 estimate, Sworders expect it to appeal to buyers for its historical significance.
Tompion trouble led to this Banger rarity
FEW clocks can claim to be as rare as this example, pictured right, which is being offered for sale at Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex on October 23. The rarity is based in part on the maker’s misfortune.
