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Bracket clock by John Taylor, London, c. 1780 — view 1 of 5
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Clocks · Bracket clock

Bracket clock by John Taylor, London, c. 1780

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
John Taylor (maker)
Date
c. 1780
Historical period
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Country of origin
England
Place
London
Object type
Bracket clock
Materials / technique
mahogany
Dimensions
Height 20 in (51 cm)
Dealer
P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire
Stock no.
Product 152
Credit line
Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 152)
Catalogue title (original)
John Taylor - London (English)

View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 152), this is a bracket clock by John Taylor, made in London, England, dated c. 1780. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 20 in (51 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 — P A Oxley

An excellent late 18th century mahogany table/bracket clock. The 8 day duration five pillar two train fusee movement with verge escapement and striking and repeating the hour on a bell and also striking once on the half hour. The backplate engraved with scrolls and foliage. The brass dial with separate silvered brass chapter ring, Roman hours, Arabic minutes, centre date feature, blued steel hands and with strike/silent facility to the arch. The mahogany case with ornate brass frets and handles to both sides and further brass embellishments throughout the case. The bell top also with five brass acorn finials and standing on four brass ogee feet.

Historical context

Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)

Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.

The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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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