Antique clocks
David Sutherland - Keith
This exquisite 8 Day Domestic regulator clock features a dead beat escapement, maintaining power, strike/silent functions, and a calendar. The honey-coloured oak case is beautifully accented by fluted columns and quarter cut panels. The blued steel hands provide a striking contrast to the finely engraved silvered brass dial, which is elegantly decorated with roses and acorns. David Sutherland was known to be in business in Keith around the year 1805.
At that time, Keith was a thriving market town, occupying a strategic position on the main route between Aberdeen and Inverness. Renowned for its busy cattle markets and agricultural trade, the town served as a commercial hub for the surrounding farming communities, with merchants, craftsmen and innkeepers benefiting from the constant flow of travellers and livestock through the district.
The early nineteenth century was a time of growing prosperity. Improvements to roads under the influence of the great military and parliamentary road-building programmes made Keith increasingly accessible, strengthening links with Aberdeen, Inverness and the ports of the Moray Firth. The surrounding countryside was undergoing the Agricultural Revolution, bringing advances in farming methods and increasing demand for the work of skilled tradesmen, including joiners, blacksmiths, cabinetmakers and clockmakers.
Although a relatively small town, Keith supported a number of accomplished craftsmen whose work reflected the growing confidence and prosperity of the region. Clocks made in Keith during this period are comparatively uncommon and are valued today as fine examples of provincial Scottish craftsmanship, combining practicality with the distinctive character of the north-east of Scotland.
Priced at: £4800
Standing at an impressive 86" tall, this piece is a stunning example of the craftsmanship associated with East coast and Banffshire clocks.
All of our antique clocks are available to view by appointment at our workshop showroom located in the grounds of The Drum, Edinburgh.
