Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by John Knapp, London, c. 1700–1710
- Maker / attribution
- John Knapp (maker)
- Date
- c. 1700–1710
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ebonised
- Dimensions
- Height 38 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 5
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 5)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JOHN KNAPP. A QUEEN ANNE PERIOD EBONISED HOUR-STRIKING TABLE CLOCK. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 5), this is a bracket clock by John Knapp, made in London, England, dated c. 1700–1710. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebonised. Recorded dimensions: Height 38 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 good Queen Anne period brass dial hour-striking table clock, the elegant ebonised case in a fine state of preservation. The dome topped case stands on four moulded block feet, has four brass corner finials and has a beautifully finished knopped ormolu handle. The rectangular brass dial is mounted with winged cherub spandrels, a silvered chapter ring and blued steel pointers which are finely pierced and faceted. The centre to the dial is matted with ringed winding holes below the dummy pendulum aperture and there is engraving around the aperture to view the day of the month. The eight day duration movement has a twin fusee drive and the hours are sounded on a separate bell with a strike/silent lever. There is a restored verge escapement and the backplate is finely engraved with acanthus leaves around the maker’s signature which is centred below a stylised bird. All the engraving is set within a wheatear border. Height: 15 in (38 cm) Width: 10 ½ in (27 cm) Depth: 7 ½ in (19 cm) * John Knapp is recorded on page 309 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of Britain 1286 – 1700. He started his working life in Reading in the 1690s and then he moved to London where he worked until his death in 1730. HW5441 Signed / Inscribed John Knapp London
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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