A bracket clock (shelf clock, mantel clock). Construction and assembly by John Leroux, 177-.

[London] (Charing Cross) : John Leroux, [between 1770 and 1779]

1 clock : wood with ebony veneer and gold leaf, brass and other metals ; clock and handle 47 x 26 x 18 cm

Leroux Charing Cross

Made by John Leroux of 8 Charing Cross Road probably sometime in the 1770s. Leroux was made an honorary freeman of the Clockmaker's Company of London in 1781. He was better known as a watchmaker than as a clockmaker and was an innovator of lever watches. This clock is a company piece, not made by Leroux personally but rather assembled by his company from components that were produced by a range of smaller firms which specialised in specific parts of clock mechanisms. This explains why Leroux's signature is engraved on an attached plaque rather than on the clockface itself

Wellcome Collection 539062i