An Italian iron and brass small chamber clock Unsigned, circa 1700 The two train weight-driven posted countwheel bell striking movement with verge escapement mounted above the top plate and short bob pendulum swinging to the rear, the frame with square brass plates united by substantial steel square section corner posts with faceted strike detent arbors pivoted between to the left hand side, the front with rectangular dial applied with 5.5 inch Roman numeral six-hour chapter ring with quarter divisions to inner track and stylised foliate engraved half hour markers, the exterior with domed bell and vase finials above brass side doors and fixed backplate, on turned bun feet, (lacking weights), 28cm (11ins) high. The practice of dividing each day into four periods was probably inherited from the Romans who combined it with the unequal hour system where the day started at dawn with the other periods starting from noon, dusk and midnight. Naturally this system meant that the duration of each period varied throughout the year. The later Italian hour system (in use by the start of the Renaissance) continued with the division of the day into four periods but with each being equal in length and divided into six hours with day now starting at sunset. Early Renaissance clocks were often annotated with tables denoting the time of sunrise and sunset for any given day throughout the year. The six hour dial also had other advantages; one being that it is easier to read the time more accurately on watch dial due to larger spacing between the hour numerals (although early watches were notoriously poor timekeepers!). Clocks using the six hour system also required less reserve in their strike trains compared to one using the more usual twelve hour strike system. This was possibly one of the reasons why many public clocks came to be made to announce the hour twice - once on or just before the hour, and again a minute or so later (presumably to serve as a reminder).