It is not widely known that George Graham, 1695-1751, arguably made the first tavern clock in c.1715. Originally made for a house in Suffolk and later donated to a church in Bury St Edmunds, this very large octagonal dial is numbered on the case and movement, 575.  Below the dial is a simple trunk with carved gilded "ears" flanking the top of the rectangualr door. There is no evidence of chinoiserie on the trunk but that may have been lost over the centuries. Although the dial is over 3 feet wide and the trunk is quite small in proportiion, overall the  design works quite well helped by the shaped base of the trunk which acts as a refined finishing section not normally found on tavern clocks.

Most makers of octagonal dials fail to achieve  the correct balance of harmony and symmetry. Orpheus Sumart of Clerkenwell is the exception and is one of the best makers of this type of clock. Sumart worked in London from around 1730 and was born in 1715. He produced at least four clocks to this design and they are specific to his method of working in that the lower trunk section below the dial is not a door but is removeable so as to gain access to the pendulum bob to start and regulate the movement as there is no side door. The seatboard has no supporting cheeks and the pendulum is front plate hung so as to show in the lenticle. All examples are offset wound to the south west of centre. One example featured in Antiquarian Horology in September 2009.