Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by John Clowes, London, c. 1700
- Maker / attribution
- John Clowes (maker)
- Date
- c. 1700
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- gilt
- Dimensions
- Height 37 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 492
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 492)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JOHN CLOWES. A very original William III period gilt-mounted striking table clock with pull quarter-repeat by this famous maker. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 492), this is a bracket clock by John Clowes, 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: gilt. Recorded dimensions: Height 37 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 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 very original William III period gilt-mounted striking table clock with pull quarter-repeat by this famous maker. The ebonised case has repoussé gilt-brass mounts to the front door and an exquisitely finished basket-top with carrying handle and four brass urn finials. The six pillar double fusee verge movement has a beautifully engraved backplate and apron and strikes each hour together with a pull quarter repeat on a further five bells. It is most unusual that the maker’s signature John Clowes London is engraved on the top of the elaborate brass fretted backcock. The 7-inch square dial has winged cherub corner mounts, mock pendulum aperture and inset datework and a silvered and engraved chapter ring. The reverse of the dial displays an exhibition label from the British Clockmakers’ Heritage Exhibition/Cat No:- 132/Science Museum London 1952. Height : 14 ½ in (37 cm) excluding handle Height : 16 in (40.4 cm) including handle Width : 10 ½ in (26.5 cm) Depth : 6 ¾ in (17 cm) * John Clowes was born in 1651 and made Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1672/3, later becoming Assistant Warden in 1708. He became a well known maker and had a number of fine apprentices, among them William Sellars, Richard Rooker and Francis Gregg. He died circa 1713/14. His longcases and bracket clocks can be found in some of the finest private and museum collections worldwide. The movement of this clock is discussed at great length in Early English Clocks by Dawson, Drover and Parkes and illustrated on plates 570 – 576. Reference : Dawson, Drover & Parkes, Early English Clocks pp 401, 405-406, pls. 570-576 HW6350
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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