R. Newey and George Philip & Son
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R. Newey (clock) |
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A handmade and possibly unique clock incorporating a 12-inch terrestrial globe on a handsome brass and mahogany stand, signed and dated 1918 by master British clockmaker R. Newey. This instrument combines precise gearworks and scientific utility with great decorative appeal.
The globe, made by George Philip & Son, one of the two leading British globe makers of the period, is surmounted by a stamped brass hour dial, within a full unengraved meridian ring. The axis is mounted on a geared mechanism incorporating a silvered 24-hour drum dial, driven by clockwork contained in a 4-inch diameter brass drum, wound by a gear and crank handle. The clock and globe are mounted on a brass tripod stand with inswept legs on lobed triform mahogany base centered with turned finial and ivory ball cap, ending in three brass bun feet.
The terrestrial globe comprises two sets of twelve chromolithographed gores with an applied equatorial strip graduated in degrees and hours, the Greenwich meridian graduated in degrees, the ecliptic graduated in days of the houses of the Zodiac with signs, the oceans with an analemma, ocean currents, and steamship routes with ports of arrival and departure and distance in nautical miles, the continents with rivers, mountains, towns, cities, and railway lines.
Clocks are well suited to be combined with globes because world time is based on the full rotation of the earth once every 24 hours. A number of Continental, English, and American globes were made incorporating a clock mechanism, to not only show relative time around the world, but to keep time for the user of the globe. The time of day or night on the earth varies with longitude location. There are 24 time zones in the world. Generally globes are divided into 24 longitudinal lines, each 15 degrees apart. It takes the earth one hour to turn each 15 degrees, and in 24 hours it has completely turned once. To use the clock globe, one turns the globe so that the place of use corresponds to the correct time on the 24-four hour drum. Local time for any place in the world then can calculated.
R. Newey is a several-generation family clock business in York, England, known for restoration of historical important clocks and church bells. The company is still in business today as R. Newey & Son.
George Philip & Son began as a map and atlas publisher in Liverpool, England in 1834. In 1902, the firm relocated to London and emerged as one of the major globe producers of the 20th century. Read more in our Guide to Globe Makers.
Brass Drum Inscribed: R. Newey YORK Fecit 1918
Oval Cartouche on Globe: PHILIPS'/ CHALLENGE GLOBE/ […] LONDON/ GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE/ GEORGE PHILIP & SON LTD 32 FLEET STREET/ Printed in Great Britain
Condition: Globe generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, soiling. Few abrasions neatly restored. Brass good with the usual oxidation. Stand good with the usual wear. Clockworks work intermittently but will be sent to clock restorer to get them working well. Clock of slightly later date than clockworks, but appears original; clock works were presumed to have been made in 1918 as dated, but not mounted with a globe until later.