A fine chinoiserie ‘Act of Parliament Clock’ in excellent original condition, the eight-day duration movement having tapered plates with five-wheel train and inside counterbalance for the hands. The dial diameter is 30 inches and I would date it c1765.

Alexander Cumming, FRS, was born in Edinburgh c1732 and died at Pentonville in 1814; a celebrated clockmaker and chronometer maker, who first suggested curved teeth for the cylinder escape wheel; he published in 1766 The Element of Clock and Watch Work; elected Hon. Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1781; he carried on business at the Dial and Three Crowns in New Bond Street, 1777; resided at 12 Clifford Street until 1794, then he kept a shop in Fleet Street, which after his death was occupied by his nephew, John Grant; among the fine clocks at Buckingham Palace is one made by Alexander Cumming, made for George 111, which registers the height of the barometer every day throughout the year.