Silver English verge with leather protective case Circa 1670

A silver verge with leather and pique work protective case
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A fine silver English verge watch with leather and pique work and outer protective case, circa 1670, gilded full plate movement, decoratively pierced and floral engraved screwed and pinned on balance cock, plain flat balance, worm and wheel set-up, fusee and gut line, Egyptian pillars, signed Richard Riccorde, Londini.
Silver champlevé dial with stippled ground, long Roman numerals with quarter-hour divisions beneath, the center with decorative rosette.
Plain silver inner case, split bezel for glass retention, leather outer protective case with decorative piqué work.
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Diameter: 42 mm
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Signed: Richard Riccorde Londini
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Richard Riccorde (also Ricord) was made a Free Brother of the Clockmakers’ Company in May 1649, just a few months after the execution of King Charles I. Research carried out by Jeremy Evans has shown that Riccorde lived in London at the Cock and Key Alley and later, Boar’s Head Alley. These addresses (which may in fact be one and the same) were in the parish of St Dunstan’s where Richard and his wife Goditha baptised two daughters, Hester, on 19^th April 1652 and Elizabeth on 14^th September 1654. Riccorde’s last apprentice was Free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1675 after which there is no further record of him.

Riccorde was amongst those who rebelled against the administration of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1656. The rebels, fronted by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, presented a petition to the Lord Mayor listing a variety of grievances related to the way the Company’s affairs were being conducted by the Master, Wardens and Assistants. Amongst these ‘grievances’ it was noted the role of Master was rotating between only 5 men.