Minerva Fromanteel Bracket Clock This clock’s singular spring-driven movement, made by the highly regarded clockmaker John Fromanteel, was found in the stable loft of Cassiobury Park (the home of the Earl of Essex) in 1937. Soon after, the movement was married to a Brazilian rosewood case, topped by a gilt figure of Minerva. It is of the highest quality and notably retains its original verge escapement and fusees. Evidence suggests that this is the earliest surviving spring-driven true English bracket clock.[1] Nothing is known of where the clock was before 2013, except that it was in a private collection in Marrakesh, Morocco. Antiquarian Johnny Carter suggests that the clock could have wound up in Marrakesh not long after it was made, because, at the time, the Moroccan port of Tangier was under English control.[2] England acquired the port in 1651 as part of Catherine of Braganza’s dowry when she married Charles II. It remained in English hands until 1684. While there is no way to prove that the clock was there as early as this, it is intriguing to imagine that Fromanteel’s Minerva clock was originally commissioned by a well-to-do English merchant or trader making their way in Marrakesh. In its current form, the clock’s dial comprises a silvered chapter ring with Roman numerals and gracefully engraved fleur-de-lis markers. There are four cherub head spandrels with one mounted in each corner of the gilded brass dialplate surrounding the chapter ring. Within the chapter ring is a matted centre with two winding holes positioned in line with the IX and III. There is also a calendar aperture just above the VI, which reveals the day of the month. It is conceivable that the present case’s design and detailing are those of the English architect John Webb, who was a pupil of Inigo Jones and professionally active from the 1630s to the 1660s. At the very least, the case, with its shallow dome top, is influenced by the older Fromanteel cases attributed to Webb.[3] It features four gilded pineapple shaped finials and four fluted Corinthian columns with gilded capitals. The case sits upon a moulded two-part turntable. Atop the clock’s rosewood architectural case is a gilt metal central finial of an armoured Minerva. She wears a crested helmet, cuirass and grieves, and holds a long spear in her right hand. Her left hand rests upon the top of her shield, the famed Aegis. In Greek mythology, the Aegis was a shield made from animal skin with the head of Medusa (a gorgon) affixed to its centre; the gorgon was believed to roar in a terrifying manner during battle. This mythical shield is an established attribute of Minerva (as well as Athena, the Greek goddess upon which the Roman Minerva is based) and is often depicted in classical representations of the goddess. Minerva is flanked by the pineapple-shaped finials mentioned above, with one adorning each corner. The frieze swag and floral garlands, together with the Corinthian capitals and bases, are of the highest quality. The rosewood case frames are lined out with boxwood to set off the rosewood’s deep tone. Brazilian rosewood is rarely found in English furniture, and its use here sets this clock apart from others of the time. It was exotic, indicating that this clock was a high-specification commission and costly.[4] During the 17th century, colonial Brazil was under the rule of the Portuguese. When this clock was made, it would have been very expensive to obtain rosewood as a raw material from a colony that was not under England’s direct control. This is thanks to the Navigation Act of 1651, which specified that all trade between England and its colonies was restricted to English shipping and its colonies’ shipping. Other European powers had similar rules, thus ensuring that the Portuguese exacted a very high price for the importation of Brazilian raw materials to other European states. The clock’s matching spring-driven movement is also of the highest quality. It retains the original verge escapement, having never been ‘upgraded’ to an anchor escapement, as might be expected. Fromanteel’s tall rectangular latched movement has narrow plates, which compelled adjustments to the construction of the mechanism. For instance, the strike fusee is reversed and the large great wheels are contra-positioned to allow for the narrower plates. There is also a unique feature: the going fusee undertakes 16 turns, and the strike fusee takes 12, which horologist Dr John C Taylor has not seen before. Both fusees are original. This rare and unusual design is not surprising, because during this period of clock design, a standard layout had yet to evolve, and all movements were essentially prototypes. John, the eldest son of pioneering clockmaker Ahasuerus Fromanteel, was a highly regarded clockmaker in his own right. He worked in his father’s workshop in St Saviour’s in Southwark and was made a Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1663. When his father left for Amsterdam in 1667, he and his brother Ahasuerus II ran the business until they too moved to Amsterdam in 1680. It was during this 12-year window of production in London, from 1667–1680, that John probably made this clock’s movement. For another Fromanteel clock topped by a gilt figure Minerva, see the famous Spínola Fromanteel, made around 1670. This is a night clock, with a painting by the Sevillian artist Lucas Valdés, that John created for the Archbishop Spínola.[5] End Notes [1] Carter 2021, 41–42, Catalogue No. 9. [2] Carter 2021, 45. [3] Carter 2021, 42. [4] Carter 2021, 42 and 45. [5] Rojas-Marcos González 2020. References Carter, J. 2021. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Rojas-Marcos González, J. 2020. ‘Arte, ciencia y literature sagrada en el Siglo de Oro: el reloj nocturno del arzobispo Spínola (Art, Science and Sacred Literature in the Golden Century: the Night Clock of Archbishop Spínola)’ in Hipogrifo 8(1): 533-51.
