A good mid 19th century two-day brass-bound rosewood marine chronometer
Frodsham & Son Liverpool & London No. 1608
The three part case with blank brass cartouche inlaid on the top lid, the centre section with brass 10 point star button above an unmarked circular ivory plaque, the lower section with inlaid brass escutcheon and folding handles. The 3.75 inch silvered Roman dial with subsidiary power reserve indicator from 0-56 hours at XII and observatory style seconds dial at VI, signed in the centre Frodsham & Son Liverpool & London N.o 1608 below the gold spade hands. The spotted 3/4 plate movement with four plain pillars and maintaining power to the chain fusee, free sprung blued steel helical balance spring with jewelled endstone and Earnshaw type escapement, cut and compensated bimetallic balance with circular weights, sitting in a weighted gimballed bowl. Ticking with a tipsy key, a further winding key and a case key. 19cms (7ins) wide.
Footnotes:
Purchased 22 March 2001 from Jeffrey Formby Antiques.

John Frodsham was born in 1781, joining his father and grandfather at 'William Frodsham & Son' after completing his apprenticeship in Clerkenwell, in 1805. By 1807, his father and grandfather had both died, leaving him as sole proprietor; the firms name was changed that year to 'John Frodsham'. He gained his freedom in 1822, relocating the business and establishing himself as a maker of pocket watches and chronometers, as well as marine chronometers. In 1834, he took his eldest son, Henry John Frodsham, 25, as a business partner and changed the business's name to 'John Frodsham & Son'. Henry John Frodsham died a year before his father, in 1848, and the business was taken over by John Frodsham's youngest child, George Edward Frodsham, born in 1831. It is likely that George Edward Frodsham had already become part of the firm, after the death of his older brother, as the name remains 'John Frodsham & Son' during this period. This would remain the firm's name until 1854, at which point it was changed to 'Frodsham, Son & Co'. The firm bore this name until 1855, then became 'Frodsham & Baker' until 1863, when it was changed again to 'George E. Frodsham,' the name it kept until it disappears from trade directories in 1901. George Edward Frodsham died in 1903.
His cousin, Henry Frodsham, was born in 1802 and was apprenticed to William James Frodsham, his (Henry's) father and one of the founders of the celebrated 'Parkinson & Frodsham' firm. Around 1831, it seems that Henry moved to Liverpool to run the nascent Liverpool branch of 'Parkinson & Frodsham,' which had been started 10 years previously. Three years later, Henry purchased the Liverpool branch from 'Parkinson & Frodsham' and renamed the business 'Henry Frodsham, chronometer maker, 38 Castle Street, Liverpool.' In 1856, the firm entered into partnership with a local nautical instrument maker, Robert John Keen, and the name was changed to 'Frodsham & Keen', Keen's own shop being renamed 'Keen & Frodsham.' Henry Frodsham died in 1858, the business passing to his wife, Frances Louisa. The firm continued under the name 'Frodsham & Keen' until closing its doors in 1935; Frances Louisa died in 1871, so it seems that at some point she sold her partnership to Keen.
This seems to suggest that this chronometer was made before 1855, before both the London and Liverpool firms changed their names when entering into separate partnerships. Why refence is made to both branches on the dial is not known, it is unclear how much interaction various branches of the family had, though this chronometer does suggest a hitherto unknown close connection between the Gracechurch Street Frodshams and the Liverpool Frodshams.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: Y Ф
Y Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.
Ф This lot contains or is made of ivory and cannot be imported into the USA or any country within the EU.