An excellent, well proportioned, long door, classic Manchester area high quality flame mahogany case with "silk" backed frets under swan neck pediment, typical "flying saucer", finials, "deluxe" double hood columns with matching trunk quarter columns.Book matched veneers to canted corner base. All set on typical ogee bracket feet. Good, warm colour and excellent patination.

13" breakarch brass dial with "David Collier Gatley" engraved on "rainbow" to top of arch.Moonphases to arch, recessed seconds dial, matted and engraved dial centre, square date aperture, typical large cherubs head spandrels. Blued cut steel hands.

Very high quality 3 train 5 pillar movement ( 5th central pillar latched ) having quarter ( countwheel ) chiming on 6 bells and hourly ( also countwheel ) striking on a further, larger bell. Polished convex section steel rod pendulum with substantial "double brass" bob and having pin and slot connection to crutch. Three brass bound weights. Excellent design and workmanship throughout. Would have been a very "upmarket" status symbol in it's day.

David Collier of Gatley. N.B. Gatley Green is now subsumed by Greater Manchester. Part of the well respected Collier family of clockmakers in the Manchester area. Recorded born 1721 in Heaton Norris, apprenticed in 1736 to John Shepley of Stockport then worked at Gatley Green. Also known in Eccles circa 1780 where he died in 1792.

Two 8 day, 2 train,examples of his work are illustrated in "Greater Manchester Clocks and Clockmakers" by Edmund Davies, one circa 1760 and another ( having axehead moon ) circa 1767. Neither are as fine as this one. A further fine example of his work is in Staircase House Museum Stockport ( also supplied by me ).I like his work, especially this one, very much.