Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Henry Massy, London, c. 1700
- Maker / attribution
- Henry Massy (maker)
- Date
- c. 1700
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- silver, tortoiseshell
- Dimensions
- Height 34 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 502
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 502)
- Catalogue title (original)
- HENRY MASSY. A fine and rare William III period tortoiseshell and silver mounted quarter-repeating bracket clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 502), this is a bracket clock by Henry Massy, made in London, England, dated c. 1700. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver, tortoiseshell. Recorded dimensions: Height 34 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 and rare William III period tortoiseshell and silver mounted quarter-repeating bracket clock of 8-day duration. The 7-inch square brass dial is mounted with winged cherub head corner spandrels and a silvered chapter ring. The centre is finely matted and there is engraving around the apertures to view the day of the month and the dummy pendulum. The maker’s signature Henry Massy London is engraved on the plate behind the dummy pendulum. The high quality twin fusee 8-day duration movement has a restored verge escapement, hour strike with strike/silent and pull quarter-repeat mechanism, the quarters being sounded on five bells and the hours on a separate bell. The particularly finely engraved backplate of the movement has a wheatear border and exquisite flower, foliate and bird engraving. At the top there is a very elaborate fretted and engraved heart-shaped backcock for the verge arbor. The elegant dome top case is veneered with red tortoiseshell and has silver escutcheons, a knopped solid silver carrying handle and beautifully engraved and pierced silver sound frets to the front and each side. Height: 13 ⅜ in (34 cm) excluding handle Width: 10 ½ in (26.5 cm) Depth: 6 ½ in (16.5 cm) * Henry Mass(e)y was born circa 1664, the son of Nicholas Massey. He was made a Free Brother of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1692 and in 1695 he admitted to having two “alien” apprentices. In 1697 he signed the Clockmakers’ Company oath of allegiance. He died in 1720. His clocks are signed variously ‘Henry Massey, London, ‘Mr Massy London, ‘Hen. Massy London’ and ‘H. Massey’. Tortoiseshell veneered table clocks were made for a very short period in the last quarter of the 17 th century and it is rare to find one in such pristine condition. References : Brian Loomes, Clockmakers of Britain: 1286 – 1700 , p. 516 Brian Loomes, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World , pp.338-339 Dawson, Drover, Parkes, Early English Clocks , p.455, pl.666 Cecinsky and Webster, English Domestic Clocks , pp.273-279, fig.290 HW6441
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:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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