VT10  CONDLIFF, LIVERPOOL.

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A beautifully designed and made great wheel skeleton clock. The third series frame is extremely elegant and was designed to suit the very large great wheel which is larger than the dial diameter. The clock was retailed by Moorhouse, Liverpool which is engraved on the plaque at the front.

The frames of these clocks have six well shaped pillars which at the front are screwed on with dome brass washers. In addition to aesthetically balance the plates this particular clock has two extra screws and washers. These are not seen on all of the series three clocks. The frames are mounted on a brass base with ball feet which are then attached to the original mahogany base on which the dome stands.

The wheel work is beautifully fretted out as one would expect in such a high quality skeleton clock. It has a going barrel for the great wheel, and employs a recoil escapement.

Height excluding dome: 14″ (35 cm)
Height including dome: 16″ (40 cm)

James Condliff set up at 32 Gerrard Street, Liverpool in 1816, at this stage the town was a thriving and important port. The manufacturing business that James Condliff founded produced many types of clocks but is best known for his superb and distinctive skeleton clocks and for a few fine quality regulators. From 1818 he occupied premises in Circus Street and from 1823 he moved to 5 Fraser Street where he continued for many years. He was joined by two other family members, Joseph and John, who were involved with the business from the mid 1820s. Finally, in the third quarter of the century the fourth Condliff, Thomas, appears in the business. The firm continued into the 1940s and the stock was then sold off by auction. James Condliff was highly talented and had great technical ability which he combined with an artistic flair enabling him to produce high quality clocks of exceptional beauty that are much sought after today.

An almost identical third series clock by Condliff is on page 111 of Skeleton Clocks by Derek Roberts.