Jeffrey Formby Antiques

JOHN SAFLEY OF EDINBURGH (died 1803)
A small 8-day longcase clock by John Safley, Edinburgh c1770 (c. 1770 Scotland)

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JOHN SAFLEY OF EDINBURGH (died 1803)

The clock has been restored and is guaranteed for 12 months.

A small 8-day longcase clock with an oak case and an arched brass dial signed on a boss in the arch John Safley, Nicolson’s Park, Edin.r.

The oak case, of good patination, has turned pillars to the hood surmounted by a swan neck pediment with sphere and eagle finial. The clock has a long door with shaped top to the trunk and a plain base with bracket feet. The decorative ‘waisted’ panels above the dial and the arched glass side windows are both typical Edinburgh features at this period. Case height 7’ 3” including finial.

The 12-inch brass dial has a silvered chapter ring and a matted dial centre with recessed subsidiary seconds dial and date aperture. The 4-pillar movement has an anchor escapement with rack striking and the clock sounds the hours on a bell.

John Safley became a freeman clockmaker in Edinburgh in 1765 and he died in October 1803. The address on the dial is interesting, as Nicolson’s Park does not exist today. A Lady Nicholson owned a mansion set within its own parkland on the outskirts of Edinburgh. With the Georgian expansion of Edinburgh she established the line of Nicolson Street through the Park and building started about 1763. Nicolson Square, also within the Park, was built from 1765 onwards. Nicolson Street and Nicolson Square still exist in Edinburgh today but the exact location of Safley’s workshop is not known.

gbp 4950.00 (Pound Sterling)