On dial: 'SILENT ELECTRIC CLOCK CO. 192, GOSWELL ROAD. E.C.'
Overview
A small subsidiary dial in a satinwood case with brass chased dial and hand-painted wooden frame with floral swags and rose motifs. This dial was manufactured by the Silent Electric Clock Company and appears in their catalogues for 1911 and 1919 under the name ‘Gale’. In contrast to controlling clocks, designed to be purely functional and not on general display, subsidiary dials like this were often advertised in a range of colours and designs, to enable them to fit in with the full range of rooms found in a large building.
The Silent Electric Clock Company produced many clocks for the British Post Office, but the company also advertised explicitly to schools and other institutions. The company had been founded c.1908 by George Bennett Bowell – a former collaborator of Frank Hope-Jones and an instrumental figure in the early Synchronome Company – and their clocks incorporated a Hipp toggle escapement, more common in Europe than in the UK.
Inventory number
TCW 1049
Date
c.1911-19
Bibliography
Silent Clock Company Catalogue, September 1911 and September 1919
