ELIEZER & JAMES CHATER (CHATER and SONS), Floor Clock

mahogany, brass, glass; height 232 cm; width 50 cm; depth 24 cm;
marked on the dial: Eliezer & James / Chater London.
England, London, second half of the 18th century.
The clock comes with two keys and a winding crank.
A long-case clock, cuboid in shape, with a three-part cabinet. On the front, a single-leaf door with a panel topped by an arch; above it, a profiled cornice, surmounted by a glass-paned door framed by an arched cornice, with two pinnacles at the top.
The dial is made of brass, with engraved Roman hour numerals, Arabic minute numerals, a smaller seconds sub-dial, and a date indicator (showing the current day of the month); the hands are openwork; in the upper part, a “Strike / Silent” indicator; all around, relief-carved inlays featuring acanthus leaves and volutes.
Located in the arch of the dial, the “Strike / Silent” switch allowed the owner to manually activate or silence the hour strike (e.g., at night), which was an advanced and sought-after luxury feature in the 18th century.
The mechanism features a weight-driven movement with two weights and a pendulum regulator, striking the hours and half-hours.

The tradition of clockmaking was established by James Chater (the Elder), a native of London (1694–1762), a native of London, who was admitted to the prestigious Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in 1727. His two sons, Eliezer Chater (c. 1730–1802) and James Chater (the Younger) (c. 1732–1800), learned the trade from their father and jointly ran a workshop from 1760 to 1780 at 3 Cherry Tree Court, Aldersgate, in London. Eliezer was a member of the guild from 1751 to 1777 (serving as Guild Master in 1772), while James was a member from 1753 to 1785. This membership guaranteed the highest quality of movements and excellent craftsmanship.