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745
AN EXTREMELY RARE SKELETONISED TABLE REGULATOR WITH SPRING PALLET CONSTANT FORCE ESCAPEMENT. CIRCA 1835.

This unsigned clock which has been made to the highest standards, has a scroll frame similar to that which was employed by Edwards of Stourbridge who also never signed his work and was famed for his skeleton clocks with cut glass wheels.

The rarity and obvious quality of this clock would suggest that it was made for an important exhibition or for exhibition purposes, possibly to display the spring pallet escapement which was technically in advance of other escapements being used on regulators up until the first quarter of the 19^th century. Its purpose was to apply a constant force to the escapement and thus also to the pendulum to keep its arc of swing constant. Its primary exponents were Reid and Hardy.

The very heavy scroll frame of this clock has six substantial pillars, screwed at either end using attractively turned brass collets. The train is of very high count and employs well executed wheelwork with six crossings. There is a chain fusee and Harrison’s maintaining power is provided. The overall layout of the escapement is similar to Hardy’s with the cross bar to which impulse is imparted being mounted on the upper part of the pendulum which swings inside a bridge mounted on the backplate. A pivot hole in the centre of this bridge carries the escape wheel arbor. Unlike Hardy’s regulators, only one pair of spring pallets are employed. The great advantage of this table regulator is that, whereas on a longcase regulator the action of the escapement can not be seen easily, here it is on open view.