Working clocks all tell the time but they also, especially older ones, tell a story. They can speak volumes about who made them, who bought them and who loved them. Whether they stand sentinel like long case clocks or preside over gatherings like mantel clocks, they become part of the family.
Someone who knows plenty of stories about clocks is Paul Kembery of the family business Kembery Antique Clocks. He grew up surrounded by them and used to come back from nursery school and cut out clock faces. Paul says there is a strong market for quality clocks and he has a mantra that has stood him in good stead over the years – ‘always buy the best you can’.
Among those he has in stock is an English twin fusee bracket clock dated around 1825. It comes in an elegant mahogany case with a stepped pediment and the original finial. It has Regency Gothic design features, brass capped side columns and brass sound fretted side panels with silk backing. It strikes the hours on a bell of 8-day duration. The dial is convex with blued steel hands and it is signed 'P J Le Gros 1, Upper Crown Street Westminster (London)' which Paul says adds to the mystery of its history. No doubt he can tell you more if you visit his stand at the NEC in July. Peter Le Gros is recorded in Loomes' 'Watchmakers & Clockmakers of The World' book as working in 1828. He is also noted as a mechanical model maker so a talented maker.
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