A ‘Mortar’ timepiece by Thomas Cole

Wick Antiques

£16500

A novelty desk clock in the form of a gilt brass mortar which can be raised and lowered in its coromandel carriage, all on a stepped and shaped base. The barrel engraved with a military trophy including standards, a wheel, cannon and helmet centred on a drum. The clock as a cannonball fitted into in the muzzle with a 2 ¾-in silvered dial, painted Roman chapter ring and 8-day spring barrel movement. Inscribed Thomas Cole, London, no. 1658 , and retailed by London Ryder. English, circa 1840. View two videos of this clock on Youtube Close up video

Wick Antiques's own words, read from their page.

Buy from WICK ANTIQUES LIMITEDWICK ANTIQUES LIMITED is a UK retailer, not the maker. Out of stock. Price seen 2026-09-26. Not an affiliate link, we earn nothing from it.

Where this comes from

The part other shops don't tell you. Three separate questions, kept separate on purpose, each with its source.

UK company
Registered at Companies House as WICK ANTIQUES LIMITED, number 05162431. Checked 2026-08-29.
Means the business is a British legal entity, not a British-sounding name owned elsewhere. It says nothing about where anything is made.
UK operations
Not yet checked.
Means people employed here, or premises they actually work from. We keep this separate from the company badge because a registered office can be an accountant's spare room, and a company can be registered in Britain while everything it does happens somewhere else. Where we have not looked, we say so rather than assuming.
British-owned
Not established. Many companies file a statement rather than naming a controlling shareholder.
Read from the register of people with significant control, following the chain of holding companies. It does not gate anything: a firm can be made here and owned elsewhere, and that is worth telling you rather than hiding.
Where it is made
The maker doesn't say, so neither do we.
This is about the individual product, not the company. A British firm can sell things made abroad, which is normal and not a criticism. We would rather tell you which is which than average them into a score.

A ‘Mortar’ timepiece by Thomas Cole

Where this comes from

More from Wick Antiques