Lot 70

William Carpenter, London, Movement No. 4552, 68 mm, 191 g, circa 1790
A very fine, complicated and highly decorative verge coach watch with regulator dial, 1/4 "Seconde Foudroyante", moon age and visible balance made for the Chinese market, the case bears the signature of the Welsh leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising "John Frost, 1838"
Case: brass, gilt. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, chain/fusee.
William Carpenter
William Carpenter in London was an innovative and highly gifted watchmaker of the late 18th century, who successfully produced fine watches and automata for the Chinese, Indian and Ottoman markets. We do not exactly know the dates of his life but he was presumably born in 1727 and freed from the Clockmaker's Company in 1781. Carpenter probably worked until 1803 or 1818; he is best known for his exquisite musical automata. Some of his automata are owned by the Palace Museum in Beijing and by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
John Frost (25 May 1784 – 27 July 1877) was a prominent Welsh leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising.
From an early age Frost had a reputation for looking after the interests of the 'small man.'
He became mayor of Newport in 1836 and a Justice of the Peace. In 1839 he was, however, found guilty of high treason and was the last Englishman sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. The sentence was later commuted to deportation to Tasmania.

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