Exceptional "typically Manchester," long door, flame mahogany case. The "shallow box back"swan neck pediment having hand carved paterae, dentils under the sweep, and much blind fretwork to the top of the case.

Ogee section hood door, fluted "flying" hood columns with unusual rope twist centred hood rear half columns. Ogee section throat moulding, with Greek key pattern under, triple Gothic top to bookmatch veneered trunk door giving a pleasing "fountain" effect, repeated in the raised base panel.

Triple "bamboo" effect trunk columns, The base with fluted, canted corners, raised, scalloped central panel and ogee bracket feet.

13" ( showing ) breakarch brass dial with MOONPHASES to arch, engraved and silvered dial centre, rococo spandrels and blued cut steel hands. Signed in block to "rainbow" at top of arch - Nathaniel Brown Manchester.

The beautifully executed, 5 pillar, 8 day, movement with QUARTER CHIMING on 6 bells and highly unusual vertical fly feature to both hourly ( rack ) striking and quarter ( countwheel ) chiming trains to govern speed and make the mechanism whisper quiet

Nathaniel Brown of Manchester - a very highly respected maker who flourished in late 18C Manchester and died in 1800. Please see frontispiece and figs. 7.39 and 7.40 in "Greater Manchester Clocks and Clockmakers" by Edmund Davies for an excellent example of his work (also supplied by me - though not as fine and complicated as this one ).

N.B. There is a very similar example by this maker- also with moonphases and quarter chiming movement in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and also dated to circa 1775.

The cases, and although not identical, share stylistic and constructional details so were undoubtedly by the same, very accomplished, casemaker.I reckon my example much nicer and in far better condition. It too belongs in a museum.