Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by John Berry, London, c. 1740
- Maker / attribution
- John Berry (maker)
- Date
- c. 1740
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- gilt, lacquer
- Dimensions
- Height 44 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 381
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 381)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JOHN BERRY. A fine George II period green and gilt lacquer table clock (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 381), this is a bracket clock by John Berry, made in London, England, dated c. 1740. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gilt, lacquer. Recorded dimensions: Height 44 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 George II period green and gilt lacquer table clock, the 8-day movement with hour strike and strike/silent. The 6 ½ inch brass dial has a strike/silent subsidiary dial in the arch over a silvered chapter ring with Roman hours and Arabic minute markers. The matted dial has an inset date aperture above VI and a mock pendulum aperture in the centre. The gilt brass spandrels to the dial corners and the arch are well cast. The fully restored double fusee movement has a verge escapement with a pear shaped pendulum bob and hourly rack strike on a single bell. The backplate is exquisitely engraved with symmetrical scrolls of foliage and a vase of flowers. The elegant green japanned case has an inverted bell top surmounted by a knopped brass carrying handle. The green and gilt lacquer work is in fine condition and has a beautiful mellow colour. The decoration on the front door stiles and the inverted bell top depicts birds, trees, insects and oriental figures within delicate gilt lattice-work borders. Height : 17 ⅜ in (44 cm) excluding handle Width : 10 ¼ in (26 cm) Depth : 7 in (17.75 cm) * John Berry worked with his father of the same name who had been apprenticed to John Ebsworth in the 1690’s. Their workshop was at the Dial in St Clements Lane and John Junior was active until 1748. HW5935
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
Related records
Pocket Watches · 1716 (hallmarked London)
George I silver pair cased verge pocket watch by John Berry, London, hallmarked London 1716
Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham
Clocks · c. 1735
Walnut grandfather clock by John Berry, London, c. 1735
P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire
Clocks · 1598–1603
Circular table-clock with calendrical and lunar indications made by Nicholas Vallin in London between 1598 and 1603.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1611
English iron lantern clock, with wheel balance, by John Holloway, Market Lavington, Wiltshire, England, 1611.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1630
Lantern clock by Francis Forman, England, 1630
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1632–1640
Turret clock, England, 1632–1640
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1645–1655
Balance-wheel brass lantern clock, with two driving weights and one counterweight, by Thomas Knifton, Cross Keys, Lothbury, London, England, 1645–1655.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c. 1650
Lantern alarm clock, silver, by David Bouquet, circa 1650
Victoria and Albert Museum, London