Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Claude Viet, London, c. 1710
- Maker / attribution
- Claude Viet (maker)
- Date
- c. 1710
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Dimensions
- Height 38 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 420
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 420)
- Catalogue title (original)
- CLAUDE VIET. A rare Queen Anne period burr maple and kingwood bracket clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 420), this is a bracket clock by Claude Viet, made in London, England, dated c. 1710. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 38 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A rare Queen Anne period burr maple (mulberry) and kingwood bracket clock by this excellent Huguenot maker working in London. The fully restored 8-Day movement with its verge escapement strikes the hours on a bell and has a pull quarter repeat mechanism for recalling the hours and quarters. The 7 ½ inch square dial has 4 winged cherubs’ head corner spandrels, ringed winding holes, inset date work above VI and an aperture for the dummy pendulum bob. The backplate is profusely engraved with flowers and scrolling foliage which is repeated in the pierced and engraved heart shaped back cock. The maker has signed his name Claude Viet London in a lambrequin on the backplate. The stunning burr maple and kingwood case is in remarkably original condition. It has a shallow dome top surmounted by an original engraved brass double ‘S’ scroll handle and unusual urn and brass ball finials. It stands on four cast brass bun feet. Height: 15 in (38 cm) Width: 11 ¼ in (28.5 cm) Depth : 7 in (18 cm) * Claude Viet was born in Orleans in France and sought exile in London presumably fleeing persecution for his Protestant faith. He became a Free Brother of the Clockmakers’ Company in December 1698. He made a number of fine longcase and table clocks, some of which he signed Watchmaker to her Majesty referring to Queen Anne. HW6272
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:FuseeAnchor (recoil) escapement
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