A Fine English Tripod Table Regulator Clock

Object Description

A Fine English Tripod Table Regulator Clock by Thomas Cole, With Integral Thermometer and Barometer, Retailed by Hunt & Roskell, London

Signed to the dial for the retailer ‘Hunt & Roskell, London.’
No. 1318 /38

The circular six-inch silvered dial with cast bezel, signed ‘Hunt & Roskell, London’, above Roman chapters and blued steel spade hands, set with a large subsidiary seconds dial below XII, the centre finely engraved with scrolling strapwork decoration. The steel winding square protruding through an engraved and shaped plate immediately below 6 o’clock with handset achieved by adjustment to the rear. The movement with tapered plates joined by cylindrical screwed pillars, a two-part backplate, a going barrel, and deadbeat escapement. The pendulum suspended from the apex of the tripod from a G-bracket, with plumb line above, fine regulation achieved by a sliding cylindrical weight on the rod, terminating in a heavy silvered spherical bob secured via Cole’s pendulum-locking system.

The case formed of three cylindrical rods set on a gilt and stepped circular base engraved with scrolling foliage, the recessed centre with a semi-circular glazed barometer with silvered register scale, blued steel hand and manually adjustable gilt recording hand. The tilted thermometer within an engraved and gilded surround. Below the tip of the pendulum is a beat scale resting on a bimetallic bar providing thermal compensation, the base resting on three adjustable gilt-metal levelling nuts.

Retaining its original glass dome and brass winding key.

Object History

This fine and rare timepiece by Thomas Cole is a masterpiece of design.

Described by Hawkins in ‘Thomas Cole & Victorian Clockmaking’ as “the first English table regulator for a gentleman’s library table,” Cole’s strut clock underwent over eight iterations before achieving a design that combined precision with extraordinary elegance.

The use of a tripod to determine the optimal pendulum suspension point is just one of several ingenious mechanisms Cole employed. Three adjustable nuts serving as feet allow for effective levelling of the clock, while a plumb line and bob ensure precise vertical alignment. Relocating the winding square directly beneath the dial eliminates the risk of scratching the surface or damaging the hands, while the inclusion of a thermometer, angled at 45 degrees, effectively conceals the beat scale and pendulum locking mechanism.

Ingeniously designed, the locking mechanism positioned just below the pendulum’s tip includes a beat scale resting on a brass bar that can be raised to secure the pendulum in place. This mechanism also provides thermal compensation through a bi-metallic strip, which automatically raises or lowers the bob in response to temperature fluctuations.

Both inventive and aesthetically striking, this rare clock exemplifies the highly ornamental Victorian timepieces created by Thomas Cole for prestigious London retailers such as Hunt & Roskell, C.F. Hancock, and R. & S. Garrard in the mid-nineteenth century.

Object Literature

J. B. Hawkins, ‘Thomas Cole & Victorian Clockmaking’, Macarthur Press, Sydney, 1975.

Culme, J. The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914, (Woodbridge, UK), 1987.

The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue of 1851

Object Details