Case 5 2010-11 : An early 19 th -century regulator by John Roger Arnold

Expert Adviser’s Statement

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Brief Description of item

• What is it ? Longcase regulator

• What is it made of ? Mahogany, and steel.

• What are its measurements ? Height 193 cms.

• Who is the artist/maker and what are his/her dates? John Roger Arnold (1769 – 1843)

• What date is the item? 1795 – 1800

• What condition is it in? Good and original.

2. Context

• Provenance From the time of manufacture to the recent sale at Bonham’s Auction House (15th December 2009), making an assumption of inheritance, the regulator has a traceable provenance – see appendix 3 below.

• Key literary and exhibition references The regulator has not been exhibited and has not featured in any published work.

3. Waverley criteria

• Which of the Waverley criteria does the item meet? (If it is of ‘outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art learning or history’ which area of art learning or history).

Waverley Criteria1 and 3.

• Very briefly why?

Waverley Criterion 1– It is so connected with our history (including local history) and national life that its departure would be a misfortune.

This regulator is important because it is intimately connected with the life and business of one of Britain’s internationally recognised and celebrated chronometer making businesses and with the history of precision timekeeping in this country - an area in which London , and chronometer makers lead the world for over a century. The Arnold business had a history of providing regulators of the highest quality to observatories, perhaps the most celebrated examples being two regulators commissioned from senior in April 1772 for the Royal Observatory, . The first of these, subsequently known as No.1 continued in service, with modifications until it was sold into public ownership in 1932. The second, No.2, was used there until it was sold in 1938.

The provenance suggests that this regulator was retained and used by its maker. Such examples in the field of are very survivors indeed and for this example to leave the country would indeed be a great misfortune.

Waverley Criterion 3 – Is it of outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history?

The study of horology in Great Britain is being carried out in a more extensive way than ever before. For centuries, from as early as the 1660s to the introduction of in the post World War II era, Britain led the world in the field of precision horology. In this context, the work of John Arnold and his son John Roger Arnold is particularly significant and surviving examples of regulators made by them are relatively rare, especially those which remain in this country. Made in about 1796 – 1800, this regulator was owned and even perhaps used by John Arnold at the end of his life, and was subsequently used by his son John Roger Arnold (1769-1843). It would have been an important example of Arnold’s productions and may have been employed as the workshop time-standard for testing the rates of marine timekeepers and other precision pieces before they were sold to the public or issued to navigators or the British Government. It might otherwise have been a timekeeper which stood in the Arnold shop as a demonstration of the level to which high precision could rise. It is therefore of outstanding importance in the study of the history and development of precision timekeeping and workshop practice of the time. The timekeeper also incorporates an example of a zinc/iron compensated pendulum, a piece of horological technology which is also relatively rare and worthy of study. DETAILED CASE

1. Detailed description of item(s) if more than in Executive summary, and any comments.

What does it depict? The work is a very fine example of precision horology from the end of the 18 th century.

Case: Solid mahogany case with panelled plinth and double skirted bottom. A hinged, locked door in the trunk. Flat-top hood with hinged glazed door and solid mahogany panels at the sides. At the back, at the height of the door an iron strap enables accurate levelling when the clock is fixed to the wall. Inside the case a substantial cast bracket provided suspension for the pendulum.

Dial: The one-piece silvered brass dial is engraved with an outer minute circle numbered 0-60 at five-minute intervals. Below the 60 minute a subsidiary dial has an outer circle divided to seconds and numbered every 10 seconds. An aperture below the centre reveals a disc numbered I-XII for the hours.

Movement Weight-driven month-going movement with substantial brass plates and six tapered pillars retained by screws at the front. Four wheel going train with Harrison’s maintaining power on the great wheel. The great wheel, intermediate and centre wheel pivots all have adjustable endplates. The third wheel and escape wheel run in jewelled bearings. Graham dead-beat , with steel escape wheel carrying the seconds hand. Polished steel pallets with jewelled pallet stones. Seconds-beating pendulum, with steel and zinc gridiron compensation, suspended from a large cast block inset and screwed to the case back-board. The steel crutch fork is lined with on the faces which interact with the pendulum rod. Two micrometer screws provide beat adjustment.

Dial signed: Arnold London No.33 .

What does it tell us about that period?

It is a typical high-precision , made to be used as a time standard. The most common use for such regulators was in astronomical observatories. However, such were also made for individuals who had an interest in science, astronomy and navigation and were commonly used by clock, watch and chronometer makers as time standards in their workshops for adjusting and setting their products.

This regulator is a very fine example of the genre. Features, such as the jewelled bearings for the gear train, the jewelled pallets in the escapement and the zinc/iron gridiron temperature compensated pendulum mark it out as being of the finest quality available at the time. As such it reflects the pre- eminence of London makers in the field of precision regulators at the time. There is no doubt that in this period 1750 – 1850 the London makers led the world and had reputations second to none and John Arnold and his son John Roger Arnold rank amongst the most celebrated in the field.

Who made it/painted it/wrote it? It was made in the workshops of John Roger Arnold towards the very end of John Arnold’s life when he was retired and his son was running the business

No. of comparable items by the same artist already in the UK, in both public and private collections?

There are only three identifiable regulators by John Arnold and his son John Roger Arnold known to remain in this country, although it is difficult to be precise as the whereabouts of those now in private ownership are not known.

(See appendix 2 below)

2. Detailed explanation of the outstanding significance of the item(s).

Significance of figures associated with the item(s): maker/client/owners?

In the story of the development of precision timekeeping in the 18 th and 19 th century, precision regulators have played a central role as instruments providing accurate time-keeping in relation to astronomy, navigation and surveying. From the regulators made for the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1675 by to the highly sophisticated instruments made by William H. Shortt for observatories around the world, the progress of astronomy was made possible by the production of increasingly accurate timekeepers. In that story in 18 th and 19 th century, London makers were at the forefront, pioneering new inventions and achieving ever more precise measurements of time. John Arnold and his son John Roger Arnold, were in the vanguard of those providing the finest and most precise machines. These took the form of static regulators and portable marine timekeepers. John Roger Arnold was without question one of the leading makers of precision regulators at the turn of the 19 th century, maintaining the standards established by his father in the preceding period.

Significance of subject-matter?

Horology is a widely studied subject around the world and more specifically in Great Britain which has a rich history. The London makers played a central role in the development of precision horology from and Thomas Mudge during the 18 th century to the leading makers who carried the story into the 19 th century when London and Liverpool makers were supplying the world with marine chronometers for navigation. At the same time it was the London makers such as the Arnolds who were supply the observatories of the world with regulators as essential scientific instruments used in the furtherance of astronomical observations.

Significance of materials/process/usage?

See above.

Is/are the item(s) of local/regional/national importance?

This regulator, by one of London’s most celebrated makers, is of national importance in the history of horology.

Summary of related items in public/private ownership in the UK

(see appendix 3 below)

References: Vaudrey Mercer, John Arnold & Son , Antiquarian Horological Society, London, 1972. Hans Staeger, 100 Jahre Präzisionuhren von Arnold bis Arnold & Frodsham , 1763-1862 , Staeger, Stuttgart, 1997. Derek Roberts, English Precision Pendulum , Schiffer, Atglen, 2003. Bonhams, London Sale Rooms, Fine Clocks and Barometers, 15 th December 2009 , lot132.

Name of Expert Adviser and Institution: Dr. Jonathan Williams Keeper Prehistory & Europe Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG

Author of report (if different)

David Thompson Curator of Horology Prehistory & Europe British Museum Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG

Date: 7 th July 2010 Appendix 1

John Arnold and John Roger Arnold.

The celebrated watch and chronometer maker John Arnold (1736-1799), the son of John Arnold senior (1702-1776), was apprenticed to his father as a . In about 1755 he went to Holland but returned two years later, at which time he began travelling around Britain. In 1762 John Arnold junior met a Mr. McGuire in St. Albans who, impressed with Arnold’s abilities as a , advanced him money with which to set up a business. This Arnold did in Devereux Court, Strand London. The business later moved to Adam Street, and then, to the Adelphi Buildings in the Strand and later to 102 Cornhill. John Arnold went on to become one of the most accomplished and celebrated watch and chronometer makers of his time. Towards the end of his career, he stepped back and his son John Roger Arnold took over the running of the business. John Roger Arnold, born in 1769, was apprenticed to his father in 1783? Later in 1792 John Roger went to Paris to study with his father’s friend, the celebrated watchmaker Abraham Louis , a visit which was to last just one year as Breguet had to flee Paris to his homeland, Switzerland, in the heat of the French Revolution. When John Arnold died in 1799, John Roger inherited the family business in the Strand and continued fine , marine chronometers and regulators in considerable numbers. The manufactory was located at Chigwell in Essex. John Roger Arnold served as Master of the ’ Company in 1817. In 1830, at the age of 60, he went into partnership with (1790 - 1853), a partnership which continued until 1838 when Dent left to set up on his own. John Roger Arnold then continued the business on his own until his death in 1843. On his death, the business was purchased by Charles Frodsham.

Appendix 2

Known Regulators by John Arnold and John Roger Arnold.

John Arnold, John Arnold & Son, John Roger Arnold

Surviving Regulators.

John Arnold

No number - Geneva Observatory 1772 - current location unknown. No.1 - Royal Greenwich Observatory, 1774. Now private owner. No.2 - Royal Greenwich Observatory, 1774. Now private owner. No number – Esterhazy, Budapest, 1776 - Technical Museum Budapest, Hungary. No number - Esterhazy, Eger made in 1776 – Astronomy Museum Eger, Hungary No number - (½ Seconds) described by Magellan as being in Arnold’s shop in 1778. No number - (½ Seconds) made c.1778 – sold Sotheby’s in 2004, now private owner. No.101 - made in 1778 – now private owner. No number - the ‘Mannheim’, made in 1779 now in Heidelberg Observatory. No number – made c.1782 – Museum of London (reg.no.47.14) John Arnold & Son

No number – made for Seeberg Observatory in 1785. current location unknown. No number - Dunsink Observatory No.1, 1788 - still at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin. No number - Dunsink Observatory No.2, 1788 - still at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin. No number - Alex Aubert’s Observatory, London in 1788 - current location unknown No number – made c.1788. Wetherfield Collection sold Hurcombe 1/5/1928. Now private owner. No number (long duration) – sold by J. Snellenberg New York, 1995. Private owner. No number - restored at Mercers in 1990 - current location unknown No number - Shuckburgh Angle clock - Science Museum London loaned to Royal Greenwich Observatory. No number - Madras Observatory 1793 - current location unknown.

John Roger Arnold

No number – Leningrad Observatory, 1798 - current location unknown. No.33 - made c.1798 - the Silvester clock – (under consideration here). No.34 – made c.1798- sold Sotheby’s 26/1/1968 lot 48 and Christie’s, 10 th June 1998, lot 36 – private owner. No number – Garnett Hill Observatory, 1808 - current location unknown. No number – Cambridge University Observatory, 1824 - now at Whipple Museum. No number -Henry Browne’s Observatory, 1825-current location unknown No number - Capodimonte Observatory - current location unknown. No number - now in Copenhagen Naval Museum.

No number – sold at Sotheby’s March 1973 - current location unknown. No number - offered to in 1938 current location unknown

Note:-

With many clocks being without number, it is hoped that there are no duplications in the above list.

Appendix 3

Provenance:

1. John Roger Arnold (1769 – 1843)

2. Richard Steele (1783 – 1860)

3. John Silvester senior (?1801 – 1886)

4. John Silvester junior (c,1844 – 1928)

5. Dr. William Pankridge Pankridge (1874 – 1963)

6. Surgeon Vice-Admiral Sir (William) Robert Silvester Pankridge (1901 – 1990)

7. Daughter of Sir Robert Silvester Pankridge.

8. Bonham’s Auction House, 15th December 2009, lot 132 (hammer price £60,000).