Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Henry Younge, London, c. 1685–1690
- Maker / attribution
- Henry Younge (maker)
- Date
- c. 1685–1690
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ebony
- Dimensions
- Height 32.5 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 5196
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (product 5196)
- Catalogue title (original)
- HENRY YOUNGE in the STRAND. A fine James II period striking ebony veneered table clock of rare small size. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number Product 5196), this is a bracket clock by Henry Younge, made in London, England, dated c. 1685–1690. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebony. Recorded dimensions: Height 32.5 cm. The record is illustrated with 5 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 James II period striking ebony veneered table clock of rare small size by this highly respected maker. The 8-day movement , which sounds the hours from a rack on a single bell, has five finned baluster pillars, a restored knife edge verge escapement and a pear shaped bob pendulum. The 6-inch square dial has four winged cherub head corner spandrels and a chapter ring with fleur-de-lys half-hour markers. There is an inset date aperture above VI in the matted centre. The elaborate early backplate is engraved with Dutch tulip flowers amidst foliate scrolls within a scribe line border. The beautiful maker’s signature Henry Younge in the Strand is inscribed just below the centre in a scroll cartouche. The small elegant case is veneered with ebony onto an oak carcass. It has a shallow gilt repoussé brass basket-top with its original carrying handle and four foliate finials. It stands on four cast brass bun feet. Height : 12 ½ in (32.5 cm ) excluding handle Width : 9 ½ in (24 cm) Depth : 6 ¾ in (17 cm) * Henry Younge was apprenticed in July 1659 to Thomas Taylor of the Strand and was made free of The Clockmakers Company in April 1672. His workshop was also near “the Wine House in the Strand” where he had a number of apprentices. He was a very fine early clockmaker whose work often has a number of distinctive features including the very early use of innovative rack-striking in his table clocks. References: Loomes, Brian,. The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain. pp 541. Loomes, Brian,. Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World: 21 st Century Edition . p. 866. HW6502
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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