Gilt brass full-plate movement with single-footed pierced and engraved cock incorporating a grotesque
face, signed Fras Perigal / Bond Street London 570. Round pillars. Wound from the front, originally
through a hole in the dial. Lacks dial but retains motion-wheels. A small movement of exceptionally
slim calibre by English standards (diameter 32mm, depth including cock but excluding cannon pinion 7.8mm).
Francis S. Perigal, of the third generation of a prominent dynasty of London clock- and watchmakers,
was ‘Watchmaker to the King’ in succession to Thomas Wright. This movement exemplifies the first attempts
to break away from the standard pattern of English verge movement which had prevailed almost unchanged
since about 1710 The view under the dial shows two recent innovations: the ratchet-and-click set-up
(compare the old worm-drive pattern seen in the Barnard watch) and the separate bridge for the third
wheel. The cock design lies midway between the flowing organic motifs of the Barnard and Gray movements
and the much tighter, fussier, symmetrical layouts of the Morris Tobias and Robinson movements.
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