Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Henry Favre, London, c. 1810–1820
- Maker / attribution
- Henry Favre (maker)
- Date
- c. 1810–1820
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- enamel
- Dimensions
- Height 33 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 296
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 296)
- Catalogue title (original)
- HENRY FAVRE, PALL MALL, LONDON. A fine small English Regency period enamel dial bracket clock (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 296), this is a bracket clock by Henry Favre, made in London, England, dated c. 1810–1820. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: enamel. Recorded dimensions: Height 33 cm. 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 fine small English Regency period enamel dial bracket clock, the 8-day movement with hour strike on a single bell and a pull hour repeat lever. The elegant mahogany case of small proportions stands on four brass ball feet and has delicate scrolling brass inlays and brass mouldings. The stepped moulded top terminates in a brass acorn set on a dentil moulded block. The 5 inch enamel dial has twin winding holes, Roman numerals and original gilt brass hands. The substantial quality movement which fills the width of the case has arch shaped plates and an engraved border which is repeated on the edge of the brass lenticular pendulum bob. The clock comes with its bespoke wall bracket. Date : circa 1810 – 1820 Height : 13 in (33 cm) excluding acorn finial Width : 7 in (18 cm) Depth : 5 in (12.5 cm) * Henry Favre is listed on page 260 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of the World: 21 st Edition . He was watchmaker to the Prince Regent and the Duke of York between 1800 and 1824. HW5966
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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