Rare silver pair cased wandering hour verge Circa 1710

Wandering hour verge watch
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A rare silver pair cased wandering hour verge watch, likely made to celebrate the act of union of 1707, circa 1710, fire gilt full plate movement, verge escapement, winged masked balance cock pierced and engraved with the Royal Arms, broad pierced cock foot, crested Egyptian pillars, semi-circular dial with wandering hour aperture engraved with the quarter hours, the silver sector with foliate decoration and engraved with armorials representing the parts of the Union, a harp, fleur-de-lys and lions, outer Arabic minute arc, centre signed Bushman London,  below a painted portrait bust of a mature Queen Anne her greying hair held by a white lace comb, the cypher A at her left within a pierced gilt panel decorated with trophies of war: spears, trumpets, cannons and drums, the quarter hours marked above the plain inner case, the outer with square hinge, the back centred with engraved monogram with further decoration to the bezel, outer case containing a coloured watch paper of a seated lady, case maker’s mark IW for John Willoughby.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Signed: Jno Bushman London
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John Bushman became a Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1692 and subsequently a Court Assistant in 1720.  Born in Augsburg in 1661 as Johannes Buschman III, he travelled to London in 1690 where he changed his name to John Bushman.

A similar watch by John Bushman with a wandering hour dial and also with a portrait of Queen Anne is illustrated and described in Watches – Henlein to Tompion by H. Marryat, pp .67-68). The Marryat watch is slightly earlier in date and shows a more youthful Queen. A further example by Bushman with a Royal bust depicting King William III is in the collection of the British Museum and published in David Thompson, The British Museum Watches, p. 58, 2008. The latter watch, like the present watch, also has a case by John Willoughby.

This watch has both the portrait bust of Queen Anne and her Royal Arms. Queen Anne, became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 and reigned until her death on 1^st August 1714.  She was the last Monarch of the House of Stuart and was succeeded by her cousin George I of Hannover.