Bracket clock. Robert Higgs, England, XVIII century.

Bracket watch, George II. ROBERT HIGGS. London, first half s. XVIII.
Mahogany wood with gilt bronze applications.
Signed dial, gilt, with gilt bronze spandrels.
Measurements: 56 x 35 x 24 cm. cm.
Important English table clock, George II period, with the dial signed by the renowned watchmaker Robert Higgs. It follows the bracket model, a type of transportable clock, with handles, which was popular in England since the late seventeenth century. Of architectural structure, the front and back windows are arched, with their spandrels richly worked with gilded bronzes. Also noteworthy are the gilded bronze applications that reproduce the stipes with vegetal body and human bust on the flanks, as well as the openwork soffits with floral motifs, and the fruit pinnacles that crown the corners. Also the feet are of bronze, in the form of volutes surrounded by foliage, and a bronze crest decorates the dome in the form of a curved profile slope. The dial has a silvered disc with the hours engraved in black with Roman numerals, while the minutes are marked in Arabic. The hands are baroque style. It is accompanied by a second striking dial and a calendar window. Robert Higgs was a member of the Clockmakers Company from 1750 to 1769. Previously, he worked at the Sweetings in London.
English bracket clocks are notable mainly for their mechanism, but also for their decoration. This typology has its origin in the decade of the 60's of the XVII century, when the pendulum was applied to the clock replacing the previous regulator of "foliot" or balance wheel. This change made it necessary to provide the mechanism with a case that would protect it from shocks that could alter its movement. Thus were born the watches known in England as brackets, i.e. transportable watches. These were short case pieces, which housed inside a mechanism held between two thick plates and containing, as a driving force for each train, a combination of hub and snail. These clocks were initially designed to be placed on a bracket, hence their English name. This bracket was an independent piece that was usually manufactured at the same time, with decoration to match the clock. Later, however, the base and clock began to be made separately.