A rare Arts and Crafts oak architectural clock,
designed by C F A Voysey (1857-1941), c.1902, with a domed top with a wood pinnacle, a shaped top moulding, the dial inlaid with pewter letters 'Tempus fugit', enclosing a simple clock movement with striker and pendulum,
26.8cm wide
17.7cm deep
50cm high
Voysey first designed a clock of this form with a decorated face for his own home, 'The Orchard' in Chorleywood, in 1895. It is shown in a photograph of the hallway. The original design for this is now in the collection of RIBA, and the clock itself held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The architectural form of the piece demonstrates Voysey's belief in simplicity of decoration without which, he said, 'no true richness is possible'. It can be compared to the clock tower he designed over the stable entrance at the Sturges house near Puttenham, 1896, his unexecuted 1889 design for a Tower House and the house he built for Mrs Forster at 14 South Parade, Bedford Park, Chiswick in 1891, all of which share the bold upright facia under an extended capped roof of this clock.
In common with a number of Voysey's designs, which he reused for later commissions with or without minor amendments, a limited number of other versions were created. Two examples in oak are known, and a few are known to have been produced in aluminium by W Tingley, one of which was shown at the 1903 Arts and Crafts Exhibition.
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Sold for £9,000
Condition Report
See additional images and video.
Reset to the right front moulding across the top. Hands discoloured. Clock not working. Scuffs to the keyholes. Striker resoldered.
Acquired by the present owner from a restorer in 2008-9. Replaced movement. All the legs have be restored - visible lines horizontally below the apron height. These have been matched and stained in. More images of the legs are attched to the description.
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Auction: Arts & Crafts and Art Deco - Live Online, 8th Sep, 2020
The Arts & Crafts and Art Deco sale is shaping up to be one of the most interesting sales within our 20th Century Design department this year.
Fresh to the open market is a collection of Stanley Webb-Davies furniture commissioned in the 1930s, one of Great Britain's premier makers of Arts and Crafts furniture. A pair of chairs, by the architect and designer C F A Voysey, comes to us from a private collection and are a very exciting inclusion; they feature the designer's signature heart-shaped backs, following his ‘sense of proportion and puritanical love of simplicity’. Also included by Voysey is a rare example of his architectural clock in oak, the dial inlaid with pewter letters 'Tempus Fugit'. Works by Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, John Makepeace Workshop and Liberty of London are a few of the designers included in the sale.
Within the Art Deco category is a fine figure of the ‘Dancer of Karpurthala’ by the genius of the period Demetre Chiparus (1886-1947), created in bronze and ivory, placed on a marble and onyx plinth this comes from a private collection. Further Art Deco figures, furniture and lighting, including an iconic table lamp by Tiffany, complete the sale.
Viewing
VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT
Due to current social distancing restrictions, we will be offering viewing by appointment only. One hour time slots will be available from:
Friday 4 September, 9am - 5pm;
Saturday 5 September, 10am - 4pm;
Sunday 6 September, 10am - 4pm;
Monday 7 September, 9am - 5pm
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