The 12in (30.5cm) diameter silvered dial was inscribed Vulliamy, London, 613, dating it to c.1817 when Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, third generation of the renowned makers, was running the business with its continuing royal patronage.
The movement with five knopped and ringed pillars, semi deadbeat escapement and twin wire gut fusees, was original but needed a clean and sympathetic restoration following an earlier refurbishment and the brass dial needed re-silvering.
The 22in (57cm) tall case was probably made by the firm’s regular collaborator Rich of Lincoln Inn Fields. With missing cockbeading and lifting veneers, it, too, needed careful restoration.
None of this deterred bidding at the May 17 sale in Billingshurst when, against a £5000-8000 estimate, the clock sold to a UK bidder at £16,000.
