Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Grant, c. 1800
- Maker / attribution
- Grant (maker)
- Date
- c. 1800
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Stock no.
- Product 4379
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (product 4379)
- Catalogue title (original)
- GRANT. A late George III period satinwood balloon mantel timepiece of rare small size. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number Product 4379), this is a bracket clock by Grant, dated c. 1800. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 4 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 pretty, late George III period satinwood balloon mantel timepiece of rare small size by this famous clockmaker. The 4-inch circular convex enamel dia l has Roman hour numerals and a double outer circle for the minutes and is signed by the maker Grant, Fleet Street, London . It has finely tapering blued steel spade tipped hands. The elegant satinwood veneered case has an inlaid marquetry urn of flowers and ebony and boxwood stringing with crossbanding to the edge. It stands on four ogee shaped brass bracket feet. The high quality 8-day timepiece movement has substantial brass plates and turned pillars with blued end-screws. It retains its original platform lever escapement with a fast/slow lever. It is securely enclosed within the case with a ring turned rear brass door. Date : circa 1800 Height : 10 ¾ in (27.25 cm) Width : 6 ½ in (16.5 cm) incl. bracket feet Depth : 3 ⅛ in (8 cm) * John Grant Senior, who worked in Fleet Street, was a member of the Clockmakers’ Company from 1791 until his death in 1810. He was succeeded by his son of the same name who was active between 1817 and 1867. In all probability this fine small timepiece was made by the father who is regarded as one of the best makers of his time. Provenance The contents of The Grange, Wendover. HW6498
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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.
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