Wetherfield Collection of Clocks: Guide to Dating English Antique Clocks by Eric Bruton
David Arthur Wetherfield brought together perhaps the greatest collection of entirely English domestic clocks ever made by a private collector. In 1930, after his death, the collection was sold, about half going to America (despite his wishes) and the remainder staying in the UK. It was particularly rich in longcase (grandfather) clocks, but had a good selection of bracket clocks and some lantern clocks, all purely English designs. One book was written about the collection before it was sold and two based on pictures taken for the catalogue produced at the time and afterwards. By a series of coincidences most of the original plates and pictures for two of the books came into the author's possession. With the help of horological associates, he has attempted to redate the clocks and present them pictorially in chronological order with new notes and captions. The object is not just to provide collectors with collated information, but to present a unique pictorial record to help dealers and collectors to date English clocks by their case styles. The longcase series is very representative and to fill gaps in the historical record of bracket (table) clocks, a new series of style drawings is provided. In addition, there is a new text that deals specifically with dating a clock by its movement, dial and case, with guidance on 'improvements' and 'marriages', when a case and a movement do not belong to each other. There are also notes on each maker represented.