The clock [sold for €15,000 (£13,640) at Veilinghuis de Jager (35% buyer’s premium)] in Goes, Zeeland, certainly does not date from the period when Ellicott (or the firm) was at “the height of his powers”.
It shows all the signs of being a European made clock, probably Dutch, bearing a fake ‘London’ name and dating from some years after the death of Ellicott in 1772.
London’s watchmakers suffered a similar fate, this time mostly by the Swiss, a real history that is far more interesting than the misinformation promulgated by your report.
Ellicott was also not “the inventor of the compensation pendulum” – he worked to try and eliminate the disadvantages of John Harrison’s earlier grid iron design.
Antiquarian horologist and consultant
ATG adds: the clock was not catalogued by the auction house as by Ellicott. The error was ours.
