Small English deck chronometer with 56h power reserve Circa 1850

56-Hour power reserve deck watch by Henry Frodsham
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A small English 56-hour power reserve deck chronometer in a mahogany box, circa 1850. Small brass movement, ∅ 57 mm, chain and fusee, an inner brass case, a spring detent escapement according to Thomas Earnshaw and bimetallic chronometer balance with two weights and four screws. Silvered dial with Roman hours, an outer minute track, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, power reserve indication at 12 and blued spade hands. Dial signed and numbered, movement numbered.
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Dimensions: 165 x 160 x 165 mm
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Signed: Henry Frodsham late Parkison & Frodsham Liverpool
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A fine small deck chronometer not by Charles, but by another of William James Frodsham’s many sons, his brother Henry Frodsham, late Parkinson & Frodsham, Liverpool. He was apprenticed to Parkinson & Frodsham in London and then moved to Liverpool, where he took over Parkinson & Frodsham’s business around 1835, making chronometers and nautical instruments. The owner of this superbly preserved chronometer in its beautiful, elaborate mahogany case was Harry Campbell Graef, whose family lived on the estate called Gracemere in Tarrytown, a small town just up the Hudson River north of New York. There are probably still remains of the magnificent Gracemere Hall from the middle of the 19th century as well as a dilapidated house from later times.