King Charles II In 1660, Charles Stuart became King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. He reigned until his death in 1685. This period is associated with a flourishing of the arts and sciences in England. Charles’ greatest accomplishments as king include the founding of the Royal Society and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. He also played a particularly important role in horological development. He appointed Edward East as his Royal Clockmaker and patronised and interacted with the most innovative clock- and watchmakers of his day. During his reign, the greatest horological thinkers pushed the boundaries of clockmaking. Their innovations ushered in a golden age for the craft in Britain, and London became the most important clockmaking market in the world. Difficult beginnings: The king without a crown Charles Stuart was born on 29 May 1630. He was just 19 years of age when, on 30 January 1649, his father King Charles I was executed for treason at Whitehall in Westminster. In May of that year, England was declared a Commonwealth, and rule by monarchy officially ended – replaced by republican government. The king's execution marked a break in the line of Stuart rulers in England and the beginning of a time of exile and upheaval for the young prince. At the time the Commonwealth of England was established, the Stuart Dynasty had retained the throne of Scotland. Thus, in 1649, Charles was crowned the King of Scotland. However, his Scottish kingship would be short-lived. In July 1651, the English army marched into Fife and then onwards to capture Perth, a key stronghold and an ancient capital of Scotland.[1] Scottish forces marched south to England and were defeated at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Charles was forced to flee to France. He continued to live in exile for the next nine years – a king without a crown. During the 1650s, the Puritan military commander Oliver Cromwell ruled the Commonwealth of England, having officially become its Lord Protector in 1653. He effectively turned the fledgling republic into a Puritan military state and is regarded as one of Britain’s most controversial leaders. He died on 3 September 1658. Within two short years of Cromwell’s death, the experiment of the Commonwealth lost its political footing. On 8 May 1660, Parliament proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of King Charles I. Constitutionally, it was as if the past 19 years had never happened. Charles returned from exile in Europe. On 23 May, he left the Hague in the Netherlands. Two days later, on 25 May, he landed in England at Dover. Just like that, England regained a sovereign. Charles was crowned King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland, marking the Restoration of the Stuard monarchy and a new beginning. The period of his reign was a time in which the arts and sciences flourished as England began to recover from the tumultuous years of civil war, republican rule and economic austerity. The 1660s: Patronage and a place to meet amidst calamity Royal Patronage Charles began making royal appointments and patronising ambitious projects almost immediately upon his accession to the throne. He immediately appointed his father’s favourite clockmaker, Edward East, as his Royal Clockmaker. East’s post was made official under a letters patent issued on 15 November 1660. He was under contract for 12d per day, with an allowance of £3 6s 8d for livery. Although this was not a lucrative position, it bestowed royal approval upon East, greatly advancing his status in society and adding lustre to his clockmaking brand. For example, East’s proximity to the royal household surely greased the wheels for the appointment of his son, James East, as clockmaker to the King’s wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza, in April 1662. This was quite a feat, as James was not even a member of the Clockmakers’ Company guild. This appointment further cemented the reputation of the East clockmaking dynasty. As the favourite clockmaker of Charles I, it is often assumed that East was an ardent Royalist. The reality is much more complex. First and foremost, East was a businessman who practised realpolitik (a system of politics based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations). He managed to thrive during the years of the English Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, despite all the disruption. East was shrewd: he never publicly aligned himself with Cromwell or the Royalists, even though he had quietly supported the Roundheads by issuing a personal loan to Cromwell’s army. Such careful conduct allowed him to move seamlessly into the prestigious role of Royal Clockmaker to the new King. The King gave East a lifetime appointment. The most long-lived of all the clockmakers, East survived into his nineties, which meant that he served Charles for the entirety of his reign. A few watches and clocks made by East during his time as Royal Clockmaker survive. There is the beautiful silver-cased chaise clockwatch made around 1660 (coming soon to Clocktime).[2] It was a portable timepiece, an early form of the pocket watch. Its silver champlevé dial features a riot of engraved flowers erupting from a twin-handled vase, all engraved to the very highest quality. Surrounding the dial is gilt ropework. The watch’s silver-case bowl is engraved and pierced. The piercing allows its hour striking bell to be heard. When Charles was in exile in France, he had become an enthusiast of royal tennis. After the Restoration, he had tennis clothes purpose-made for this pastime, as seen in his first accounts for 1660–1662 which list eight tennis suits. He is also known to have presented a silver watch made by East as a tournament prize. While there is no evidence that the chaise clock-watch described above was that keepsake, it is notable that a watch of this type was regarded as a fitting and desirable royal trophy. Charles had a personal collection of clocks that included some made by makers other than East. In his diary, John Evelyn describes a clock in the King’s ‘closet of rarities’ that resembles John Fromanteel’s Monumental Architectural Night Clock made around 1667 (exhibited on Clocktime). Under the date 1 November 1660, Evelyn writes: I went with some of my relations to Court to show them his Magties cabinet and closet of rarities … Here I saw … amongst the clocks one that showed the rising and setting of the sun in Ye Zodig, the sunn represented by a face and raies of gold upon an azure skie, observing Ye diurnal and annual motion rising and setting behind, and landscape of hills, the work of our famous Fromantel. It seems that interest in night clocks extended beyond Charles to his queen. A bill from James East to Queen Catherine, dated 23 June 1664, is for a ‘pendulum clocke to goe 8 days with a lamp to show the houre of the night 045’.[3] Coincidentally, the following day, Samuel Pepys appears to have viewed this clock. In his diary entry for 24 June 1664, he writes: After dinner to White Hall and there met with Mr. Pierce and he showed me the Queen’s bed-chamber with a clock by her bed-side wherein a lamp burns that tells her the time of the night at any time. Thus, the first mentions of the rather short-lived night clock design in England are associated with the royal household of King Charles II. However, by the end of the decade, the fascination with night clocks had waned: they were no longer being made, thanks to the invention of repeater clocks. There is also the troubling matter of the night clock design being an extreme fire hazard. Repeater clocks commissioned by Charles are discussed below. Antiquarian Johnny Carter posits that a superb and very unusual watch by London watchmaker Isack Pluvier, made around 1664 (and coming soon to Clocktime), may have ties to Charles as well.[4] The gold-and-enamel painted dial features figures of Venus and Cupid, referencing themes of love. The watch originally belonged to Frances Teresa Stuart, the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (b. 1647, d. 1702). She was a distant relative of the royal family and famed for her beauty. Born in exile in Paris, she was sent to the English court in 1663, after the Restoration. There she caught the eye of Charles, who immediately fell in love with her (as was his habit). Carter posits that perhaps the Pluvier watch was given by the King to Frances as a token of his desire. While there is no proof of this, it is a tempting scenario to imagine. Frances managed to resist the King’s affections, and in 1667, she married Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, a fourth cousin of the King. It is possible that she had to elope to evade the King’s disapproval. There is a documented example of Charles presenting an extraordinary clock as a gift to one of his love interests.[5] In 1677, the King commissioned a superb clock by master clockmaker Thomas Tompion. He then gave this clock to Lady Castlemain, who caught the King’s eye around the same time that he was pursuing Frances. This clock is now known as the Castlemain Tompion.[6] The Castlemain Tompion is an ebony table clock with exquisite silver mounts and decorations. Technically, it was advanced, with its two-train grande sonnerie striking and trip-repeating. This means that the owner could, at will, make the clock sound out the time at will by pulling a cord on the side of the clock – a handy feature to have in the middle of the night. When the cord was pulled, the clock would sound out the time to the nearest quarter. During the first decade of his reign, Charles’ patronage also extended to architectural projects. In the early 1660s, he commissioned John Webb, the English architect, to rebuild Greenwich Palace. Only one block of Webb’s design was built, which now forms the eastern part of the King Charles block. Later, in 1669, he appointed the English architect Christopher Wren as his Surveyor of Works. The Royal Society: A place to meet On 28 November 1660, a few months after Charles had been proclaimed King of Englan, the Royal Society was founded following a lecture given by Wren at Gresham College in London. This was the very first meeting of a learned society, and it was attended by the leading polymaths of the day. Founding members included Wren (who become Charles’ Surveyor of Works in 1669), the Irish natural philosopher and chemist Robert Boyle, the economist and physician William Petty, and the author and diarist John Evelyn (mentioned above). On 12 January 1662, the Society received a royal charter from the King, who became their official patron. In its original form, the Society functioned as an invisible college of natural philosophers and physicians. From 1663, it was known as the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. It quickly evolved into a meeting place of the great and the good, with attendees including Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke and Tompion. Here, scholars were able to interact, debate theory, and engage in scientific research and experiments – many of which changed the world. The Royal Society is one of Charles’ greatest legacies. Today, it is a fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.[7] Innovation amidst calamities During the 1660s, trade also began to open up. Clockmakers had increasing access to exotic and costly materials, and they began using colonial imports such as rosewood, olivewood and red turtleshell for the cases of the clocks. These clocks were of high specification and costly. At the time, the quality of timepieces was judged primarily on their accuracy as timekeepers, rather than as the works of art that we see them as today. Horologist Dr John C. Taylor argues that changes in the design of clock cases were driven by the need to showcase the (then) cutting-edge mechanisms within. For example, clockmakers such as Fromanteel, began hiring highly skilled artisans, for example Wren and Webb, to design their clock cases. Thus, while artistically important, the aesthetics of clockmaking were not driven by artistic innovation alone. A modern example of this process is the introduction of the now iconic iPhone during the early 21st century. The iPhone introduced a new phase of technology. Its sleek white casing was a striking aesthetic departure from that of its black iPhone predecessor and the smart phones produced by competitors. This was deliberate: the sleek white case heralded the technological advances encased within. Thus, the use of exotic, costly materials such as olivewood and rosewood helped to move the market forwards. Still, even with the return of the monarchy and its system of royal patronage, the clockmaking market in London was slow to find its feet. This was due in part to the economic instability and austerity of the previous period. During the English Civil Wars, Charles’ father, King Charles I, had exacted crippling fees on the City and its guilds to provide funding for his war effort. There was also an ‘assaying of plate’, in which objects of gold, silver and other metals were recalled and melted down. This greatly affected the bursinesses of clockmakers and goldsmiths. The assaying of plate even extended to currency. A great amount of silver coinage was melted down, resulting in a shortage of coins.[8] To compensate, many merchants (including clockmakers such as Joseph Knibb and cabinet-makers such as Joseph Clifton) and municipalities reverted back to and issued their own small-change currencies, known as trade tokens. Most tokens were struck from materials such as copper and brass. Some were even struck from pewter and leather. They came in a variety of shapes and denominations and were produced parochially, designed to be redeemed in shops or premises. Thousands of variations were created in London alone, and around 20,000 different types were struck nationwide. The token system was a consequence of economic disruption and indicative of the state’s failure to mint its own currency accordingly. This home-grown bartering system persisted well into the reign of Charles II. On 16 August 1672, the King issued a proclamation that demonetised tokens and introduced the first royal copper halfpenny and farthing issues. The use of trade tokens had been outlawed. It is likely that this legislation took a year or two to take effect.[9] While London was contending with these issues during the 1660s, it was two cataclysmic events that caused the greatest chaos and disruption. These were the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London. The Great Plague of London ravaged the city during various outbreaks between 1665 and 1670. According to the National Archives, 15% of the Capital’s population died in this epidemic.[10] The clockmaking market was greatly affected in terms of people and materials. Tragically, clockmaker Samuel Knibb died from the last wave of plague around 1670. His death prompted his brother Joseph to move to London to take over Samuel's workshop. In 1666, the Great Fire of London burned for four days straight, from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September. It swept through central London, ravaging the medieval city, which was principally made of wood. It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul’s Cathedral, and most of the City’s buildings. It also disrupted the clockmaking market: brass was in especially short supply after the Great Fire. Charles commissioned Wren (whom he would later appoint as his Royal Surveyor of Works) to rebuild 51 churches, including the world-famous St Paul's Cathedral – still one of London's most famous buildings. There was also a Dutch attack on the Royal Navy on the river Medway in 1677. This event brought the second Anglo-Dutch war to an end and added to the general sense of calamity. Although Charles’ ambitious rebuilding project would produce breathtaking results, giving us much of London’s famous neoclassical cityscape that we know today, all these events were highly disruptive to say the very least. They created shortages, destabilised infrastructure and industry, and caused incredible loss of life. At the time, many interpreted these events as God’s punishment on the immoral King and his court. The 1670s: Innovative design and a place to observe the stars Charles and his groundbreaking clocks During the 1670s, Charles’ horological patronage appears to have extended to many of the best London makers of the day, and he commissioned or purchased timepieces that featured groundbreaking inventions. The clockmaker Henry Jones made several clocks for the King, with one of these costing the then vast sum of £1150.[11] Jones was closely connected to Charles’ Royal Clockmaker, Edward East. He had apprenticed with East and maintained a good relationship with his mentor until East’s death around 1695. In January 1673 (or 1674), Jones made a complaint to the Court of the Clockmakers’ Company regarding a clock that Charles commissioned from him. Jones alleged that another London clockmaker, Edward Stanton, had removed Jones’ signature from the clock and substituted Robert Seignior’s name.[12] After seven years in his collection, it appears that the King gave the clock to a lady, probably Mrs Jane Lane, who had helped Charles escape the English army after the Battle of Worcester in 1649. Following enquiries made by the Company, no further action was taken on Jones’ complaint. In 1675, Charles purchased a watch made by Hooke and Tompion, both members of the Royal Society. The watch featured Hooke’s invention, the balance spring, which greatly increased the accuracy of timepieces. Tompion fitted the balance spring into the watch under Hooke’s direction. In Hooke’s diary there are several entries detailing the making of this watch, as well the King’s involvement in its development. In March of 1675, Hooke describes sitting with Tompion in Garraway’s Coffee House and sketching out the design for his balance spring.[13] He writes I shewd my way of fixing double springs to the inside of the Ballance spring. On 7 April, the two men presented their designs to the King, and Hooke describes Charles as being most graciously pleas’d with it and commended it far beyond [Huygens]’, referring to the balance spring created by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens independently of Hooke. Apparently, Charles was insistent that Hooke and Tompion get on with their work and complete the watch, so they began experimenting with different types of springs and balances. By 17 May 1675, they had completed the watch for the King, which Hooke writes was ‘locked up in his closet’. On 18 May, Hooke writes that while the King ‘affirmed it very good’, he was obliged to take the watch back, probably for adjustments. In the meantime, Huygens was trying to steal Hooke’s thunder. In June 1675, he sent a watch to London that used his own balance-spring design. Huygens’ watch failed to cause a stir, as it had no minute or seconds hands and was not wholly reliable. Hooke and Tompion then delivered their improved timepiece (which had a minute and seconds hand) to the King in August 1675. It was later reported to work to within the accuracy of a minute a day, although the arrangement of the balance and spring is still debated. Huygens had been outplayed. There is an intriguing entry in Hooke’s diary for 24 June 1677.[14] It appears to be the first reference to a royal clock commission by Tompion and is also the first contemporary reference to the Castlemain Tompion. Hooke writes: Tompion here instructed him about the Kings striking clock about bells and about the striking by the help of a spring instead of a pendulum, as also the ground and use of the fly and of the swash teeth. The use of the word ‘swash’ for rack striking is significant, as Tompion was the first clockmaker to produce a clock using this invention. Rack striking allowed a clock to repeat (i.e. to strike the most recent hour and quarters on demand by pulling a cord, located on the side of the clock). The repeater design probably emerged from an amalgam of ideas exchanged between Tompion, Hooke, and the Reverend Edward Barlow, a natural scientist and mechanician. (Typically, Barlow is given the credit for inventing rack striking.) While it is unclear if Hooke’s diary is referring to the royally commissioned Castlemain Tompion mentioned above, in 1677, Tompion did deliver to Charles an extraordinary two-train repeating grande sonnerie table clock with the new rack striking. Charles’ involvement with experimental clocks does not end there. That same year, he commissioned the Roman Striking Table Clock dated 1677 by Joseph Knibb (exhibited on Clocktime).[15] This clock debuted Knibb’s new Roman striking method and featured the maker’s invention, the tic-tac escapement. Knibb’s clock stayed with the Royal family and was later part of King George III’s clock collection. Knibb’s Roman striking clock was the first of Knibb’s Phase II clock production. Although the Roman striking method did not catch on (it was not intuitive, and therefore hard to understand), this royal commission started an expensive trend that Knibb capitalised on. The Knibb Phase II series of clocks were probably his most expensive productions. They were made to order and followed the form that Charles favoured: elegant ebony-veneered cases with silver mounts. Even after the invention of the domestic pendulum clock by Huygens in 1656, all clocks still had to be set locally by a sundial. This included the King’s clocks. One of Charles’ standard dials was supplied around 1678 by the London instrument maker, Henry Wynne.[16] From the 1670s, Wynne produced the finest and largest double-horizontal sundials known in Britain. Their construction required a high degree of mathematical knowledge and considerable skill in the accurate engraving of the planispheric projection. The bronze sundial that Wynne made for the King is now part of the Royal Collection Trust (RCOM 30901). Its limestone, baluster-shaped pedestal is carved in high relief with vine leaves, garlands, and acanthus. This carving has been attributed to Grinling Gibbons, an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich: A place to observe the stars Exploration, sea trade and colonial expansion were fundamental to the success of European states at the time. Accordingly, obtaining astronomical information for accurate navigation, cartography and timekeeping was of the highest priority. This included the need to work out how to accurately measure longitude while at sea – the greatest scientific problem of the day. In 1674, Charles learned that the French were getting close to solving the problem of longitude.[17] The King’s desire to beat the French to a solution spurred him on to appoint his own royal astronomer. In 1675, he appointed the English astronomer John Flamsteed as the first royal Astronomical Observator to rectify Tables of the Motions of the Heavens, and the Places of fixed Stars, so as to find out the much-desired Longitude at Sea, for perfecting the art of Navigation.[18] The title Astronomical Observator was later officially changed to Astronomer Royal, which remains the title used today for this senior post in the royal household. Currently, the Astronomer Royal for King Charles III is Martin Rees, the Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt HonFREng FRS.[19] Charles and Flamsteed shared the belief that the solution to the longitude problem would be an astronomical one rather than a horological one. Like most astronomers of his day, Flamsteed thought this would be achieved by measuring the position of the navigator relative to celestial bodies, such as Jupiter’s moons, which had been discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Within six months of appointing Flamsteed, on 22 June 1675, Charles issued a warrant to initiate construction of a royal observatory. His proclamation read: Whereas, in order to the finding out of the longitude of places for perfecting navigation and astronomy, we have resolved to build a small observatory within our park at Greenwich, upon the highest ground, at or near the place where the castle stood, with lodging-rooms for our astronomical observator and assistant. Flamsteed, with the help of the English mathematician, surveyor and patron of astronomy Jonas Moore, began working on plans for constructing the new observatory on the hill above the recently abandoned royal rebuilding project of Greenwich Palace. The King’s Royal Surveyor of Works, Wren, along with Hooke and Tompion, were also brought on board to design, build and furnish the new observatory. Although the team had little money with which to pay for and furnish the building, they worked with great speed, and the main structure was completed in July 1676.[20] They were quite resourceful. Apparently, they stole bricks from the abandoned site nearby, and Moore even dipped into his own pockets to commission Tompion for two clocks with 13-foot pendulums that make each single vibration in two seconds of time; and their weights need only to be drawn up once in twelve months. These were fitted into the Octagon Room at Greenwich, which was designed with the clock dials framed in the panelling at eye level. A third Tompion clock was added later.[21] Charles also provided patronage to the brilliant astronomer Edmund Halley. Halley had met Charles’ Astronomer Royal, Flamsteed, in Oxford in 1676. The two men began working together soon afterwards, with Halley assisting Flamsteed with observations in the new Royal Observatory and at Oxford. During this time, Halley observed Flamsteed’s use of the telescope to create an accurate catalogue of northern stars. This so inspired him that he proposed to create a similar catalogue for stars in the southern hemisphere. To do so, Halley acquired patronage from the King, who also provided a letter to the East India Company, compelling them to provide passage for Halley. With this in hand, Halley sailed from Oxford to the island of St Helena (which was under British rule) in November of 1676. He constructed an observatory on the island. Despite uncooperative weather, he was able to record the celestial longitudes and latitudes of 341 stars, observe the transit of Mercury across the sun, and note that certain stars had become fainter since previous observations in antiquity (the ancient past, typically associated with the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations). Halley published his southern star catalogue in 1678. This established his reputation as an astronomer and was the first published work containing telescopically determined locations of southern stars. In that same year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. After the death of Flamsteed in 1719, Halley was appointed the second Astronomer Royal, occupying the royal post that Charles II created during his reign. Into the golden age of clockmaking… Charles died on 6 February 1685. On his deathbed, he converted to Roman Catholicism. He did not have an heir, as he and his wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children. Charles did, however, acknowledge at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother, who became King James II. Amidst a backdrop of war, disaster and disease, Charles founded what is still today one of the world’s foremost scientific societies and laid the foundations for Greenwich to become a major seat of astronomical and maritime research and achievement. The sight of his Royal Observatory would eventually become the home of GMT (Greenwich mean time), and the meridian that runs through it would be adopted worldwide, becoming the single time zone that still functions as the baseline for the rest of the world. King Charles II interacted with and patronised many of London’s most brilliant makers. His reign ushered in the golden age of British clockmaking, in which these makers drove formidable horological development. This burst of technological innovation took place over an astonishingly short period of time, from around 1660 to the 1720s. This period culminated in the production of the Harrison of Barrow wooden regulator, made by Yorkshire clockmaker, John Harrison in 1726 (exhibited on Clocktime). This clock would remain the world’s most accurate clock for the next 150 years. Harrison would also go on to solve the greatest scientific problem of the age: the problem of longitude. He was eventually awarded for this achievement in 1773, almost a century after Charles’ death. There is no doubt that it would have pleased Charles immensely that a Yorkshire man beat the French to the punch. Dr Kristin Leith, Senior Curator of Clocktime October 2023 End Notes [1] Perth served as the capital of Scotland until about 1452. Currently, the city of Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. [2] Carter 2021b, 30–33, Exhibit No. 6; Taylor and Leith 2019, 20, Exhibition No. 3:3. [3] Carter 2021b, 42. [4] Carter 2021b, 46. [5] Carter 2021b, 46. [6] Carter, J. ‘Exceptional English Clocks’ Collection: Exhibit No. 2’; Dawson et al. 1994, 347–352 and 444–446, pls 23 and 24, 498–502. [7] To learn more about the Royal Society, see https://royalsociety.org [8] Antique Collecting Magazine 2020. [9] To read a copy of the Proclamation of Charles II, Issued 16 August 1672: Making Current the Royal Farthings and Halfpennys and Forbidding the Use of All Others, see https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/2015/06/07/proclamation-of-charles-ii-1672-making-current-royal-farthings-and-halfpennys/ [10] https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/ [11] Carter 2021a, 52. [12] Carter 2021a, Catalogue No. 16, Loomes 1981. [13] Carter 2021a, 102. [14] Ibid. [15] Carter 2022, 141. [16] Carter 2021a, 118. [17] Carter 2021a, 102. [18] Sobel 2007, 31, also see 53. [19] For more information on the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, see https://royalsociety.org/people/martin-rees-12156/ [20] Carter 2021a, 102–103. [21] For a history of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, see https://www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory/history References Antique Collecting Magazine. 28 October 2020. ‘Explore Trade Tokens from the 17th century.’ https://antique-collecting.co.uk/2020/10/28/explore-trade-tokens-from-the-17th-century/ Carter, J. 2021a. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. 2021b. The John C Taylor Collection: Part II (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. 2022. The John C Taylor Collection: Part III (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. ‘Exceptional English Clocks’ Collection: Exhibit No. 2’. https://www.cartermarsh.com/product/exhibit-no-2-the-silver-tompion-circa-1677/ Dawson, P. G., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 1994 [1982]. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’ Club. Garnier, R. and L. Hollis. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: The early development of the pendulum clock in London. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Lloyd, H. A. 1964. The Collector’s Dictionary of Clocks. New York, NY: A. S. Barnes & Co. Loomes, B. 1981. The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain. London: NAG Press. Sobel, D. 2007. Longitude: The story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. London: Harper Perrenial. 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. Further Reading Birks, John L. 1999. John Flamsteed: The first Astronomer Royal at Greenwich. London: Avon Books. Dawson, P., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 2003. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century (3rd edition). Suffolk: Antique Collectors Club. Image Credit King Charles II by John Michael Wright. Oil on canvas, circa 1660-1665, NPG 531 © National Portrait Gallery, London CC BY-NC-ND 3.0, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw01235/King-Charles-II?LinkID=mp00841&role=sit&rNo=7
