NEW Bond Street auction house Bonhams will be holding an exhibition of early English clocks in September.
It will be a rare chance to clocks many of which are are being made available by two private collectors.
The exhibition at the famous Mayfair auction house will also include contributions from the Science Museum, the Clockmakers’ Company and the Collection of the 5th Lord Harris from Belmont House, amongst others.
Richard Garnier, curator of the Innovation and Collaboration exhibition, explains, “In researching the exhibition – that displays the early development of the pendulum clock – I’ve discovered that, in England, clock case design and materials pre-dated cabinetmaking of the period. Clocks were the pinnacle of English fashion and featured expensive woods such as ebony and kingwood, leading the way in cabinet making.
“It seems that the common wisdom – that clock cases followed developments in the furniture trade – is wrong. It was in fact furniture that seems to have been influenced by clocks, as these new mechanical timepieces were the ultimate in designer technology and became leaders in the development of cabinetmaking.”
Innovation and Collaboration runs from Sept 3-14 at Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street.