Selby Lowndes Tompion Clocktime’s featured clock, the Selby Lowndes Tompion spring clock No. 217, is as sumptuously beautiful as it is technically groundbreaking for its time.[1] It was designed by Thomas Tompion, who is widely regarded as the ‘Father of English clockmaking’. The clock is one of the earliest full grande sonnerie clocks known. This means that it was one of the first clocks capable of striking the hour and the quarters (every 15, 30 and 45 minutes). The Selby Lowndes was probably commissioned by King William III, and its magnificent architectural case was probably designed by the King’s famous Huguenot cabinet-maker, Daniel Marot.[2] Tompion was the first maker to apply mass production methods to his products. From the early 1600s, he used serial numbers to keep track of his output.[3] The Selby Lowndes is No. 217 in Tompion’s output. The first full grande sonnerie clock The design of the movement is a further testimony to Tompion’s pursuit of technical excellence. Not only is the Selby Lowndes one of the very earliest full grande sonnerie clocks, capable of striking the hours and the quarters as mentioned above, but it also could do this on demand. The clock had a ‘trip repeat’ cord on the III side of its case. If the owner wanted to know the time during the pitch black of night, they simply could pull the cord. By doing so, the clock would strike the last hour and quarter to tell the time. Each quarter was sounded out with a melodious peel of six bells, and the hours sound on a single larger bell. If the owner wanted the quarters to be sounded out by just one bell or if they wanted to turn the striking mechanism off altogether (perhaps to get a good night’s sleep), they could do so by adjusting the small striking dial in the upper corner of the dial face, on the III side. The full grande sonnerie striking method is enabled by the clock’s three trains: one for going, a second for hour striking, and a third for quarter striking. The mechanism also features what was then the new rack snail striking – an invention that made repeated striking possible. (Full grande sonnerie striking was simply not achievable using a traditional countwheel.) The invention of rack snail striking is traditionally attributed to the priest and mechanician Reverend Edward Barlow. As a member of the Royal Society, Tompion kept company with the great and the good in the scientific community. He often exchanged ideas with Barlow and many others, and even struck up a working friendship with the polymath Robert Hooke, with whom he collaborated. According to horologist John Robey, it is possible that rack snail striking was a development that came out of ‘an amalgam of ideas’ by Barlow, Tompion, Hooke and fellow clockmaker Joseph Knibb.[4] The Selby Lowndes is probably the first of a small series of full grande sonnerie clocks that Tompion made with three train movements.[5] These followed Tompion’s development of earlier two train grande sonnerie clocks like the Sussex Tompion (coming soon to Clocktime). The new three-train clocks, like the Selby Lowndes, were made for Tompion’s most elite clientele.[6] A William and Mary-style case The design of the Selby Lowndes’ ebony-veneered, two-tier architectural case is very different from that of earlier Tompion clocks, which were much more subdued in decorative detail. For an example of an earlier Tompion with a comparatively understated case, see the Olivewood Tompion made around 1673. While the Selby Lowndes’ case is still classical in principle and designed as a miniature building, its decoration required a series of newly commissioned mounts. These included handles and their backplates, dome mounts with a front cartouche, drawer and side mounts, and complex multipiece regal feet (now restored). Tompion did reuse the acanthus leaf gilt frets originally designed for his masterpiece, the Sussex Tompion made around 1680. The design of the case is attributed to Daniel Marot, who was King William III’s cabinet-maker at the time.[7] Marot was a Huguenot, who left his post as King Louis XIV’s court designer in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Seeking refuge from religious persecution, he fled to the Netherlands and began working for William of Orange. When William married Mary II, becoming William III of England and Scotland, Marot followed his employer to England. As part of the King’s court, he became one of a group of Huguenot designers who influenced the decorative arts style known as William and Mary style, so named because it became popular during the reign of William and Mary from 1689 to 1702. The Selby Lowndes certainly epitomises William and Mary style, with its emphasis on the vertical line and delicate decorative elements. The gilt figure of a laurel-wreathed Roman general perched atop the case could very well represent King William, fresh from his victory at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690. There, William defeated the Catholic army of the deposed King James II. This was very much a Protestant victory over the threat of Catholicism, as it secured William and Mary’s newly acceded thrones as well as Britain’s identity as a Protestant nation. The figure on the case is similar to the gilt statue of William in Roman dress that the King presented to the Dockyard at Portsmouth in gratitude for the Navy’s passive support for his cause. William had assumed that the navy would act to stop him when he landed in Portsmouth to take the throne, but they took no action. The statue in Portsmouth goes towards explaining why the gilt figure of the Roman general atop the case is widely interpreted as an allegory for William’s victory. Royal pedigree It is likely that King William commissioned the Selby Lowndes, eventually presenting it as a gift to William Lowndes, who served as Secretary to the Treasury at the time. Perhaps he did so in thanks for Lowndes’ work and to celebrate the victory at the Battle of the Boyne. Still, is unclear whether William commissioned the clock and gifted it to Lowndes, or vice versa. There is also the possibility that Lowndes purchased the clock directly himself. Lowndes served as Secretary to the Treasury from 1695 to 1724. He was a member of the House of Commons, Chairman of Ways and Means, and a highly successful financier. For his pioneering work on the funding system, Queen Anne conferred upon him the office of Auditor of the Land Revenue for life, in reversion to his sons, with an augmentation to his coat of arms. The royal purchase of and payment for luxury items such as clocks would have been overseen by Lowndes’ office. The fact that there are no obvious royal regalia on the clock adds some credibility to the scenario where Lowndes directly purchased the clock for himself. The name ‘Selby’ was officially added to the Lowndes name in 1831 by Lowndes’ grandson, also named William. He was made the heir of James Selby on the condition that he assumed the name of Selby. Hence, the clock became popularly known as the Selby Lowndes Tompion. Dr Kristin Leith, Senior Curator of Clocktime May 2024 End Notes [1] Evans et al. 2013, 285; Symonds 1940, 116, figs 80–82; 1951, 163, 198 and 285, figs 141 and 184. [2] Garnier and Hollis 2018, 354, Catalogue No. 108; Symonds 1940 and 1951; Taylor 2018, 33, Exhibit No. 108. [3] Evans et al. 2013; Symonds 1951; Taylor et al. 2019, 5. [4] Robey 2005. [5] Garnier and Hollis 2018, 352–353. [6] Taylor 2004. [7] Garnier and Hollis 2018, 354; Taylor 2018, 33, Exhibit No. 108. References Evans, J., J. Carter and B. Wright. 2013. Thomas Tompion – 300 Years: A celebration of the life and work of Thomas Tompion. Walter Lane Publishing. Garnier, R. and L. Hollis. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: The early development of the pendulum clock in London. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Robey, J. 2005. ‘Who invented rack-and-snail striking? The early development of repeating and rack striking’ in Antiquarian Horology (March), 1-18. Symonds, R. W. 1940. Masterpices of English Furniture and Clocks. Symonds, R. W. 1951. Thomas Tompion: His life and Work 1639–1713. London: B.T. Battsford Ltd. Taylor, J. C. 2004. ‘Thomas Tompion’s Spring Clock Innovations’ in Antiquarian Horology (June). Taylor, J. C. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: Exhibition guide. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions by T Phillipson). 2019. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1550–1750. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Also see Hodenkee. ‘Majestic Time: an exhibition of the clocks of Thomas Tompion’ https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/majestic-time-an-exhibition-of-the-clocks-of-thomas-tompion Christie’s. ‘The Selby-Lowndes Tompion: Lot essay’ https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-3012590
