Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Sam Davis, London, c. 1685
- Maker / attribution
- Sam Davis (maker)
- Date
- c. 1685
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Dimensions
- Height 38 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 409
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 409)
- Catalogue title (original)
- SAM DAVIS. A fine James II period kingwood quarter repeating spring table clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 409), this is a bracket clock by Sam Davis, made in London, England, dated c. 1685. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 38 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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 quarter repeating spring table clock veneered with kingwood. The small flamboyant case stands on four brass bun feet and has a gilt brass repoussé basket top supporting the carrying handle. The basket is flanked to the four corners with unusual pineapple finials. The 6 in (15 cm) square dial is mounted with wing cherub spandrels and a raised silvered chapter ring and has ringed winding holes in the matted centre. The inset date aperture is set above VI. The two train fusée eight day duration movement has restored quarter repeatwork on a single bell with the hours sounded on a separate bell. The escapement is verge and the backplate is profusely engraved with a vase of flowers and foliage and an elaborate wheatear border. The external clickwork is set at the bottom. The chapter ring is signed Sam Davis, London . Height : 15 in (38 cm) Width : 8 ½ in (21.5 cm) Depth : 6 ½ in (16.5 cm) * Sam Davis was working in Lothbury in the City of London from 1647/8 until his death in the 1690s. He also had a son of the same name who predeceased his father. Small 17 th century table clocks veneered in kingwood are extremely rare and highly sought after. References : B. Loomes , Clockmakers of Britain: 1286-1700 , pp.150-151 B. Loomes , Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World: Complete 21st Century Edition, pp.200-201
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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