A George III period musical table clock by Robert Manley, London, c. 1790. The mahogany case has a bell top, stands on four ogee brass feet and is surmounted by brass pineapple finials, and a carrying handle. The sides of the case have pierced circular sound frets, whilst the arched door is brass bound. The arched brass dial has a silvered chapter ring with a matted centre, which shows three winding holes, a mock-pendulum aperture and a silvered signature segment signed Robert Manley Londen. The triple-fusee movement of eight-day duration has a finely engraved back-plate with the maker’s signature. The clock strikes the hours on a bell and plays one of two tunes on a set of twelve bells, the tunes being Lovely Nancy and Harvest Home, which can be selected with a lever in the arch. • Height: 51 cm (20in). • The maker, Robert Manley, was active in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. • Literature: B. Loomes, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, London, 2006, p. 505.
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