CHA HOWSE Bracket Clock. London, 18th century. Mahogany wood and chiselled bronze. Quarter, half and hour chimes. 9 bells. The key is missing. The machinery needs to be overhauled. The dial shows faults in the enamelling. Measurements: 53 x 39 x 24 cm. English table clock, bracket type, signed by the clockmaker Cha Howse. Its case is made of mahogany wood, decorated with gilt-bronze applications with foliate and rocaille motifs worked in relief. It has an architectural structure, the flanks being decorated with stipes with anthropomorphic busts. The dial has Roman numerals (on the hours) and Arabic numerals (on the minutes). The dome, which is stepped and sloped, is topped with a handle and decorated with bronze appliqués and fruit elements decorating the corners. Bracket clocks of English origin are notable mainly for their mechanism, but also for their decoration. This type of clock originated in the 1960s, when the pendulum was applied to the clock, replacing the previous "foliot" regulator or balance. This change made it necessary to provide the mechanism with a case to protect it from shocks that could alter its movement. This was the origin of the watches known in England as brackets, i.e. portable watches. These were short cases which housed a mechanism held between two thick plates and contained, as the driving force for each train, a combination of a hub and a snail. These clocks were originally intended to be placed on a bracket, hence their English name. This bracket was a separate piece that was usually made at the same time, with decoration to match the clock. Later, however, the base and clock began to be made separately.