James Stratton

Bonhams is the only international auction house to hold specialist sales devoted to Fine Clocks, and for the past 30 years Director James Stratton has been the driving force behind the department.

Here, James talks to us about what inspired him to go into the auction world, his career triumphs and the 10 clocks trending with buyers and sellers.

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What do you do at Bonhams?

I am Director of the Fine Clocks department based in London New Bond Street, where we hold two dedicated Clocks sales a year. Our next auction is taking place on 2 July as part of The Classics season this summer.

Where do you call home?

I grew up in East Anglia where even the smallest town had an antique shop or two. My parents were passionate collectors and many a childhood weekend was spent browsing shops and fairs for that elusive find. I was captivated by auctions, and as soon as I realised I could get a professional qualification and make a career out of it, I knew the auction world was for me. Unlike most fine art, one has to physically engage with a clock every week – a clock won’t work if you don’t wind it up, and that act, where you breathe life into a static object, touches something inside every collector.

What was your first job?

My first paid work was lotting up the pigs for the local auction house on market day! But even this didn’t deter me – I enrolled for a course in Fine Arts Valuation and took time out to work in an antique centre. It was unusual for a teenager to be interested in antiques and a lot of the dealers were happy to pass on nuggets of information – their acts of kindness and encouragement have stayed with me.

 Name one of your triumphs.

In the summer of 2019, I sold a miniature ebony bracket clock by Thomas Tompion for £1.9 million, a world record price. Tompion made the clock for Queen Mary in 1693, and our research was so extensive that we dedicated a separate catalogue to it. I’d seen the clock in books over the years, but to physically hold it in my hands, and to hear it strike, just as Queen Mary had 300 years ago, sent shivers down my spine.

What has changed in the business since you first started? 

The greatest change must be the internet – it has transformed almost every aspect of my working life. One key advantage is that now it is so much easier and quicker to communicate with clients – within a couple of clicks, I can send a clock video to a potential buyer on the other side of the world. Likewise, clients find it very easy to send me their images and to get help straight away.

The only downside is perhaps there’s a tendency to type rather than talk these days. There is nothing I like more than hitting the road and meeting clients at their homes.

What is your strength as a specialist? 

It’s probably my enthusiasm for the subject, which has only gotten stronger over the years. I’ve organised exhibitions in our New Bond Street saleroom with leading collectors and charitable trusts, and I am an active member of the wider clock world outside of work. It’s corny, but I love to meet other people who get just as much of a rush as I do over an engraved backplate, an enamel dial or a finely fettled piece of steel.

Do you have a hidden talent? 

I am an avid gardener and have won prizes for my blueberries!

Which clock has changed your life? 

My working life was changed many years ago, when I was sent an image of a mantelpiece with a black clock on it with the question, ‘Is this worth anything?’ My jaw dropped. It reminded me of the work of Ahasuerus Fromanteel – the man who introduced the pendulum to England in 1658. It is not an exaggeration to say that Fromanteel’s introduction of the pendulum revolutionised society and was a key driver of the Scientific Renaissance of the 17^th century.  Clocks with this new contrivance were able to keep time to within seconds a month.

A few weeks later, the clock was sent to me in London, and even before the wrapping was fully off, it was obvious we had found a gem. The clock was incredibly original, and certain aspects of the movement had never been seen before. Its appearance on the market added to the canon of what we know about the earliest pendulum clocks. After much research I was able to positively attribute it to the workshop of Fromanteel and, just as when a new plant is discovered, I felt the clock should have a name. The case was mounted with a brass figure of cupid on top, and so I rather cheekily christened it ‘The Cupid Fromanteel’, a name that it retains to this day. Conducting the research, discussing it with collectors and curators, and finally selling it on the rostrum for £692,000 inc. premium marked a new high in my career.