Click here to enlarge picture

31431C.L
PARK, LIVERPOOL. AN EXTREMELY SMALL & ATTRACTIVE MAHOGANY LONGCASE CLOCK WITH BRASS MOONPHASE DIAL. CIRCA 1790.

An unusually small mahogany longcase clock. The case of the typical style found in Liverpool clocks with a swan neck top with verre eglomisé panels and a small finial mounted in the centre. The hood pillars are very plain with wooden capitals at the top and the bottom. The main trunk of the clock has similar pillars to the front corners and a full length nicely shaped door with fine flame mahogany veneers. The base of the clock has a book matched veneer applied panel with cut away corners and further canting to the main sides of the base. It stands on well shaped ogee feet typical of Liverpool clocks. One of the most attractive features of the case is that it only stands some 7' high.

The attractive brass dial has a moonphase in the arch with dark blue starlit sky between the moonphases. There are four spandrels depicting the seasons and a wide silvered chapter ring with both Roman main numerals and Arabic outer numerals together with an inner ring for the date. The minutes are shown as dots rather than a full minute ring.

The dial centre is nicely engraved with cross hatching and signed for the maker Park, Liverpool. The blued steel hands are of an unusual design nicely fretted out, in particular the date hand is very finely fretted. The seconds hand is again of typical shape for a Liverpool clock.

Interestingly the dial behind the chapter ring has been skeletonised presumably in order to save brass.